Head to head · Girls' names
Alicia vs Alma
#460 vs #449 in 2025
Alma is a whisker ahead (#449 vs #460 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alma is back after a long quiet spell, Alicia is holding its place on the charts.
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, Alma leads 4 measures of 6; Alicia leads 2.
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: Alicia #767, Alma #70 — Alma higher
- 1890s: Alicia #872, Alma #53 — Alma higher
- 1900s: Alicia #904, Alma #56 — Alma higher
- 1910s: Alicia #702, Alma #68 — Alma higher
- 1920s: Alicia #478, Alma #91 — Alma higher
- 1930s: Alicia #392, Alma #129 — Alma higher
- 1940s: Alicia #328, Alma #188 — Alma higher
- 1950s: Alicia #266, Alma #275 — Alicia higher
- 1960s: Alicia #164, Alma #374 — Alicia higher
- 1970s: Alicia #81, Alma #384 — Alicia higher
- 1980s: Alicia #47, Alma #401 — Alicia higher
- 1990s: Alicia #82, Alma #428 — Alicia higher
- 2000s: Alicia #151, Alma #628 — Alicia higher
- 2010s: Alicia #331, Alma #727 — Alicia higher
- 2020s: Alicia #431, Alma #489 — Alicia higher
Alicia stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Alicia has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alicia | Alma |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #767 | #70 |
| 1890s | #872 | #53 |
| 1900s | #904 | #56 |
| 1910s | #702 | #68 |
| 1920s | #478 | #91 |
| 1930s | #392 | #129 |
| 1940s | #328 | #188 |
| 1950s | #266 | #275 |
| 1960s | #164 | #374 |
| 1970s | #81 | #384 |
| 1980s | #47 | #401 |
| 1990s | #82 | #428 |
| 2000s | #151 | #628 |
| 2010s | #331 | #727 |
| 2020s | #431 | #489 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Alicia
Not charting outside the US.
Alma
- France#4
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alicia
noble kind; of noble sort
The Germanic original joined a word for noble to one meaning kind or sort, and French shortened it drastically — the full form survives separately as Adelaide. Latin then relatinised the French short form, which is where the spelling with a c comes from, and Spanish took it that way.
Adalheidis → Adelais → Alice → Alicia
How it traveled
A girl born in London to a Jewish family, dancing professionally from childhood, was taken into Diaghilev's company at fourteen and became one of the defining dancers of the twentieth century. She did not do it under her own name.
Alma
"Nourishing, kind" in Latin; "soul" in Spanish and Portuguese
Alma is one spelling that several languages arrived at independently, which is why no single reading wins. Latin almus, feminine alma, means "nourishing" or "kind" and survives in alma mater, "nourishing mother." In Spanish, Portuguese and poetic Italian, alma is simply the word for soul. In Turkic languages, including Crimean Tatar, alma means apple — the same word behind Hungarian alma. Hebrew almah, "young woman," is a separate word that the name has been attached to in Jewish families. All of these are real; none cancels the others.
almus (Latin, "nourishing") → alma (Latin feminine; Spanish and Portuguese "soul") → Alma
How it traveled
The Latin adjective almus, "nourishing," was applied to goddesses and later to universities, giving the phrase alma mater. Quite separately, Spanish and Portuguese inherited alma as the plain word for soul, and Turkic languages carried an unrelated alma meaning apple — the source of the river Alma in Crimea.
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
Alicia
uh-LEE-shuh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. The c before the i does two jobs at once — it carries the sh sound and the following vowel — which is why families also say uh-LISS-ee-uh and neither is wrong.
- Ali — The front of the name, and the commonest everyday form.
- Licha — The Spanish familiar form, cut from the middle.
- Lissy — Built from the back of the name in English mouths.
Alma
AL-muh
Stress on the first syllable. Spanish and Portuguese speakers say AHL-mah, with a fuller first vowel; both are the same name, and neither needs correcting.
- Al — The main short form in English-speaking households; informal, and also a short form of several men's names.
- Allie — Informal; shared with Alice, Allison and Alexandra, and used as a standalone given name too.
- Almita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families rather than as a public name.
- Ally — Spelling variant of Allie, informal, more common among younger speakers.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alicia if you want…
- a name fewer children share#460 in 2025 — alicia will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyAlicia is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAlicia runs 3 syllables, Alma 2
- a newer arrivalAlicia entered the US charts in 1881
Choose Alma if you want…
- a name most people already know#449 in 2025, 689 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 111 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAlma is 2 syllables to Alicia's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAlma is on the national lists of France
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
Alicia
Strengths
- It is at home in English and Spanish without being altered in either.
- Ali comes off it immediately and needs no explanation.
- The descent is documented all the way back to a Germanic compound.
To consider
- It has two accepted pronunciations, and a bearer will be correcting one of them all her life.
- Alisha, Alysia and Alecia are all recorded and will be written for it.
- It has been common for decades, so a classroom may hold more than one.
Alma
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Hungarian and Bosnian — no adjusting for grandparents or passports.
- Two syllables and entirely phonetic; almost no one will need it spelled out twice.
- On record in the United States since the earliest years of national name statistics, and never fully out of use since.
To consider
- To Spanish and Portuguese speakers, Alma is not an opaque name but a familiar word — soul. Whether that lands as lovely or as a little literal depends entirely on the family.
- Most Almas in the United States today are well into later life, so some ears will place the name a couple of generations back before they place it as new again.
- It sits close to Alba, Elma and Ilma, and over the phone the first vowel occasionally gets misheard. A single repeat usually fixes it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Alicia and Alma 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 Alicia and Alma?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
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- all guides
Where Alicia and Alma each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alicia or Alma — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alicia or Alma?
- Alma, in 2025: Alma ranked #449 with 689 babies; Alicia ranked #460 with 672 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alicia or Alma?
- Alma. Over the last five years Alicia moved down 46 places; Alma moved up 111 places.
- Which is the older name, Alicia or Alma?
- Alicia entered the US charts in 1881; Alma was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Alma is the older name.
- How many people are named Alicia and Alma?
- About 215,000 people named Alicia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 56,000 people named Alma are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alicias or Almas in the classroom?
- Alicia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alma 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
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