Head to head · Boys' names
Alijah vs Apollo
#469 vs #445 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Apollo is a whisker ahead (#445 vs #469 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, Apollo leads 5 measures of 6; Alijah leads 1.
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
- 1960s: Alijah —, Apollo #2877 — Apollo higher
- 1970s: Alijah —, Apollo #3291 — Apollo higher
- 1980s: Alijah #6946, Apollo #2255 — Apollo higher
- 1990s: Alijah #2858, Apollo #4680 — Alijah higher
- 2000s: Alijah #658, Apollo #2819 — Alijah higher
- 2010s: Alijah #481, Apollo #808 — Alijah higher
- 2020s: Alijah #444, Apollo #421 — Apollo higher
Apollo stood higher in 4 of 7 decades; Apollo took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alijah | Apollo |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | — | #2877 |
| 1970s | — | #3291 |
| 1980s | #6946 | #2255 |
| 1990s | #2858 | #4680 |
| 2000s | #658 | #2819 |
| 2010s | #481 | #808 |
| 2020s | #444 | #421 |
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
Alijah
Read through Elijah: Hebrew "my God is Yahweh"
Two roads meet at this spelling. Most often it is a respelling of Elijah, from Hebrew Eliyahu, "my God is Yahweh." It can also be read as an anglicized form of Alija, the Bosnian and Albanian form of Arabic Ali, "high, exalted." The spelling itself is recent enough that no single reading has been settled for it, and plenty of families choose it precisely because it holds both.
Eliyahu → Elias → Elijah → Alijah
How it traveled
Eliyahu belongs to the prophet of the Books of Kings, who confronts King Ahab and is carried off in a whirlwind — one of the most dramatic figures in the Hebrew scriptures. The Greek translators wrote him as Elias, which is how he reached Latin, then most of Christian Europe; English settled on Elijah, and Puritan families in England and colonial America made it an everyday given name rather than a scriptural one.
Apollo
Not established — the god's name resists translation
Ancient Greek writers linked Apollōn to apollymi, 'to destroy', and others to apella, an 'assembly' or fold, giving a reading like 'he of the assembly'. Modern scholars generally treat both as later guesses and suspect a pre-Greek or Anatolian source. What is certain is what the name meant to the people who used it: the god of light, music, prophecy, archery and healing.
Apollōn → Apollo → Apollonius → Apollonia → Apollinaris
How it traveled
The name belongs first to Ἀπόλλων (Apollōn), one of the twelve Olympian gods, worshipped at Delphi and Delos long before the classical era. Rome took him over almost unchanged as Apollo, and from there the name spread through European art and learning rather than through baptismal registers — for many centuries Christians used the derived forms, Apollonia and Apollinaris, rather than the god's own name.
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
Alijah
uh-LY-juh
Said like Elijah, with the stress on the middle syllable. Because it begins with A, some readers try AL-ih-juh or ah-LEE-uh on first sight, so a quick correction is often part of introductions.
- Ali — Informal, and a long-established given name in its own right across the Muslim world and beyond.
- AJ — Initial-based and informal; widely used in American English for any A-plus-J pairing.
- Lijah — Informal, shared with Elijah; family use more than school use.
- Jah — Informal and playful, used mainly within families.
- Also Eli.
Apollo
uh-POL-oh
Stress on the middle syllable. The Greek and French form Apollon puts the stress at the end, and Spanish Apolo drops one 'l' — all easily recognized as the same name.
- Apo — Informal, family-level shortening; no long tradition behind it, since the name itself has only recently come into everyday use.
- Polo — Informal; also stands alone as a given name and surname in Italian and Spanish.
- Lo — Very informal, used mostly by siblings and close friends.
- Ollie — Informal; more usually a short form of Oliver, so it may need explaining.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alijah if you want…
- a name fewer children share#469 in 2025 — alijah will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyAlijah is holding its place on the charts
Choose Apollo if you want…
- a name most people already know#445 in 2025, 708 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 3 places on the charts in five years
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
Alijah
Strengths
- Sounds completely familiar even to people seeing the spelling for the first time — the Elijah pattern does the work.
- Several ready-made short forms, including Ali and AJ, both already in real use as names on their own.
- Sits naturally in Hebrew, Christian and Muslim naming traditions, which few names manage at once.
To consider
- It will be autocorrected and rewritten as Elijah for life. Spelling it out will become routine, and forms, teachers and coffee cups will often get the E instead of the A.
- The first vowel is genuinely ambiguous on sight, so expect a mix of uh-LY-juh, AL-ih-juh and ah-LEE-uh until people are told.
- Nearly everyone carrying this spelling is young, so there is no adult generation of Alijahs to point to yet — an advantage or a blank, depending on what you want from a name.
Apollo
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and already known worldwide from mythology and the moon missions — rarely needs repeating or correcting.
- Nearly unchanged across Greek, Latin, Italian, Spanish, French and Russian, so it travels without becoming a different name.
- A written record stretching back to archaic Greece, which makes it very old and very new at the same time.
To consider
- It is the name of a god, and a famous one. Expect comments, mythology jokes and the occasional raised eyebrow; some people find a name that large a pleasure, others find it a lot to introduce yourself with.
- In Spanish, pollo means chicken, and Polo or 'pollo' is an obvious playground shortening — worth knowing, especially in the states where the name is most used.
- Its wave is very recent, so almost everyone who carries it is a child. There is no adult version of this name in most people's experience yet; that arrives as this generation grows up.
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 Alijah and Apollo 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 Alijah and Apollo?
Put both to the vote.
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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
- Hero and god names for boys
- Greek names with ancient roots
- Percy Jackson names on the charts
- all guides
Where Alijah and Apollo each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alijah or Apollo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alijah or Apollo?
- Apollo, in 2025: Apollo ranked #445 with 708 babies; Alijah ranked #469 with 651 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alijah or Apollo?
- Apollo. Over the last five years Alijah moved down 22 places; Apollo moved up 3 places.
- Which is the older name, Alijah or Apollo?
- Alijah entered the US charts in 1987; Apollo entered the US charts in 1965. On the American record, Apollo is the older name.
- How many people are named Alijah and Apollo?
- About 14,000 people named Alijah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,900 people named Apollo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alijahs or Apollos in the classroom?
- Alijah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Apollo 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
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