Head to head · Girls' names
Alice vs Genesis
#65 vs #66 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Alice is a whisker ahead (#65 vs #66 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Alice leads 6 measures of 6; Genesis leads 0.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Alice #11, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1890s: Alice #14, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1900s: Alice #11, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1910s: Alice #12, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1920s: Alice #16, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1930s: Alice #25, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1940s: Alice #42, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1950s: Alice #86, Genesis — — Alice higher
- 1960s: Alice #150, Genesis #6371 — Alice higher
- 1970s: Alice #241, Genesis #3354 — Alice higher
- 1980s: Alice #328, Genesis #1544 — Alice higher
- 1990s: Alice #404, Genesis #348 — Genesis higher
- 2000s: Alice #387, Genesis #174 — Genesis higher
- 2010s: Alice #102, Genesis #64 — Genesis higher
- 2020s: Alice #67, Genesis #63 — Genesis higher
Alice stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Genesis has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alice | Genesis |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #11 | — |
| 1890s | #14 | — |
| 1900s | #11 | — |
| 1910s | #12 | — |
| 1920s | #16 | — |
| 1930s | #25 | — |
| 1940s | #42 | — |
| 1950s | #86 | — |
| 1960s | #150 | #6371 |
| 1970s | #241 | #3354 |
| 1980s | #328 | #1544 |
| 1990s | #404 | #348 |
| 2000s | #387 | #174 |
| 2010s | #102 | #64 |
| 2020s | #67 | #63 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Alice
- France#10
- Canada#12
- England & Wales#49
- Scotland#52
Genesis
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alice
of a noble kind
Both Germanic elements are well attested and the chain of forms from the compound to the modern name is documented at every stage. What is gone is any way of seeing that from the name as it now stands.
Adalheidis → Adelais → Aalis → Alice
How it traveled
One woman carrying it changed what a short story could be asked to do. She wrote almost nothing but stories across a working life of half a century, set nearly all of them in small towns in southwestern Ontario, and built them so that a paragraph could contain forty years and a marriage could turn on a sentence somebody almost said.
Genesis
origin, birth, coming into being
From Greek génesis, 'origin' or 'birth'. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures used it as the title of the first book, rendering the Hebrew opening word bereshit, 'in the beginning'; Latin and then English kept the Greek title unchanged.
génesis (Greek) → Genesis (Latin) → Genesis (English) → Génesis (Spanish)
How it traveled
The word traveled long before the name did. Greek génesis meant origin or coming-into-being; the Septuagint translators applied it as the title of the Bible's first book, the Latin Vulgate kept it, and English inherited it whole, which is why the spelling has never needed adjusting in any of those languages.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Alice
AL-iss
Two syllables with the stress at the front. French says it in two as well, with the weight at the back, which English speakers rarely attempt.
- Ali — The front alone; short, current and completely unisex.
- Elsie — Reached by sound from the ending; a standing name in its own right.
- Allie — An affectionate ending; warm and firmly informal.
Genesis
JEN-uh-sis
Stress on the first syllable, exactly as the book title is read aloud in English. Spanish speakers say it JEH-neh-sees, with the accent written in: Génesis.
- Gen — The most common everyday clip, used informally by family and friends.
- Genny — Informal, sometimes written Jenny; overlaps in sound with the unrelated name Jenny.
- Gigi — Playful and informal; also stands alone as a given name in French and Italian usage.
- Nessa — Drawn from the end of the name; used informally, and independently a name of its own.
- Also Sisi.
Who has carried each name
Alice
Alice Munro (b. 1931) — Nobel laureate, master of the short story
Alice Walker (b. 1944) — The Color Purple author, first Black woman to win the fiction Pulitzer
Alice Paul (b. 1885) — Suffragist who wrote the Equal Rights Amendment
Genesis
No documented entry for Genesis yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alice if you want…
- a name on the way upup 11 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAlice is 2 syllables to Genesis's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAlice is on the national lists of France, Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordAlice was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Genesis if you want…
- a name holding steadyGenesis is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itGenesis runs 3 syllables, Alice 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Gen, Genny and Gigi
- a newer arrivalGenesis entered the US charts in 1964
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Alice
Strengths
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- It has been in continuous use since the medieval period without interruption.
- The spelling is short, unambiguous and never needs repeating.
To consider
- It is currently fashionable again, so a child may not be the only one.
- The meaning is entirely invisible without explanation.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Genesis
Strengths
- Spelled and pronounced correctly on first encounter by almost anyone literate in English — the word is already in everyone's vocabulary.
- The meaning is transparent, not something a parent has to explain or look up.
- Crosses into Spanish with only an added accent mark, which matters in the regions where it is strongest.
To consider
- The name announces a scriptural connection whether or not you intend one. Some families want exactly that; others find strangers drawing conclusions about their beliefs from a birth announcement.
- Its life as a given name is genuinely recent, so a child will meet few adult Genesises — there is no older generation of namesakes to grow into, and some people still hear the British rock band first.
- Boys with this spelling are a small minority, so a boy named Genesis should expect the occasional assumption on a class list or form.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alice
12%chance Alice feels dated by 2040
Alice has held the top-100 across 9 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Genesis
40%chance Genesis feels dated by 2040
Genesis sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Alice and Genesis in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Alice and Genesis?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Alice and Genesis — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alice or Genesis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alice or Genesis?
- Alice, in 2025: Alice ranked #65 with 3,547 babies; Genesis ranked #66 with 3,527 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alice or Genesis?
- Alice. Over the last five years Alice moved up 11 places; Genesis moved down 4 places.
- Which is the older name, Alice or Genesis?
- Alice was already in use when US records began in 1880; Genesis entered the US charts in 1964. On the American record, Alice is the older name.
- How many people are named Alice and Genesis?
- About 220,000 people named Alice are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 93,000 people named Genesis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alices or Genesiss in the classroom?
- Alice will almost certainly be the only one in school. Genesis will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Alice, Genesis and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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