Head to head · Girls' names
Alicia vs Elle
#460 vs #461 in 2025
Alicia is a whisker ahead (#460 vs #461 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alicia is holding its place on the charts, Elle is stepping back from its peak.
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, Alicia leads 5 measures of 6; Elle 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: Alicia #767, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1890s: Alicia #872, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1900s: Alicia #904, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1910s: Alicia #702, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1920s: Alicia #478, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1930s: Alicia #392, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1940s: Alicia #328, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1950s: Alicia #266, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1960s: Alicia #164, Elle — — Alicia higher
- 1970s: Alicia #81, Elle #8300 — Alicia higher
- 1980s: Alicia #47, Elle #5853 — Alicia higher
- 1990s: Alicia #82, Elle #1373 — Alicia higher
- 2000s: Alicia #151, Elle #626 — Alicia higher
- 2010s: Alicia #331, Elle #393 — Alicia higher
- 2020s: Alicia #431, Elle #417 — Elle higher
Alicia stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Elle took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alicia | Elle |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #767 | — |
| 1890s | #872 | — |
| 1900s | #904 | — |
| 1910s | #702 | — |
| 1920s | #478 | — |
| 1930s | #392 | — |
| 1940s | #328 | — |
| 1950s | #266 | — |
| 1960s | #164 | — |
| 1970s | #81 | #8300 |
| 1980s | #47 | #5853 |
| 1990s | #82 | #1373 |
| 2000s | #151 | #626 |
| 2010s | #331 | #393 |
| 2020s | #431 | #417 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
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.
Elle
"She" in French; also a short form of Ell- and -elle names
Two readings compete, and both are real. Read as French, elle is simply the pronoun "she". Read as a short form, the meaning belongs to the longer name behind it: Eleanor, Ellen (through Greek Helenē), Elizabeth (Hebrew, "my God is an oath"), or one of the -elle names like Gabrielle and Michelle, where -elle is the French feminine diminutive ending.
Helenē → Helen → Ellen → Elle
How it traveled
The sound comes into English along two roads that meet at the same three letters. One runs through the Ell- names — Ellen, from Greek Helenē by way of medieval French and English, and Eleanor and Elizabeth alongside it — all of which have been clipped to Ell and Elle in family use for centuries.
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.
Elle
EL
One syllable, rhyming with bell. Identical in sound to the letter L and to French elle. Some readers guess EL-ee on first sight, expecting Ellie, and correct themselves once they hear it.
- Ellie — The usual affectionate stretch of a name already short; stands alone as a given name too.
- El — Informal, mostly within a family or among close friends.
- Ella — Used interchangeably by some families; also a fully established given name in its own right.
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 with more sound in itAlicia runs 3 syllables, Elle 1
Choose Elle if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsElle is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesElle is 1 syllable to Alicia's 3
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.
Elle
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, no silent traps — most people spell it right the first time they hear it said.
- Works as the everyday short form of Eleanor, Ellen, Elizabeth, Gabrielle, Danielle or Michelle, if you ever want a longer name on the certificate.
- Recognizable in French and English alike, and readable at sight across most European languages.
To consider
- It is a homophone of the letter L, which invites the occasional "Elle with an E?" and stray spellings like El, Ell or plain L over the phone.
- Because the sound has served as a nickname for so long, some people will assume Elle is short for something and ask what the full name is.
- At one syllable it can get lost beside a very short surname, and it disappears easily when called across a noisy playground. Read the whole name aloud a few times before deciding.
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 Elle 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 Elle?
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 these names appear on
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Wizarding world names from the Potter books
- Pop star names on birth certificates
- all guides
Where Alicia and Elle each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alicia or Elle — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alicia or Elle?
- Alicia, in 2025: Alicia ranked #460 with 672 babies; Elle ranked #461 with 668 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alicia or Elle?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alicia moved down 46 places; Elle moved down 91 places.
- Which is the older name, Alicia or Elle?
- Alicia entered the US charts in 1881; Elle entered the US charts in 1977. On the American record, Alicia is the older name.
- How many people are named Alicia and Elle?
- About 215,000 people named Alicia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 19,000 people named Elle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alicias or Elles in the classroom?
- Alicia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Elle will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. 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 Alicia, Elle and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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