Head to head · Girls' names
Alison vs Camryn
#476 vs #476 in 2025
Alison and Camryn share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#476). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Alison leads 3 measures of 6; Camryn 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
- 1900s: Alison #1800, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1910s: Alison #1939, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1920s: Alison #2048, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1930s: Alison #1241, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1940s: Alison #783, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1950s: Alison #360, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1960s: Alison #250, Camryn — — Alison higher
- 1970s: Alison #137, Camryn #8418 — Alison higher
- 1980s: Alison #108, Camryn #8891 — Alison higher
- 1990s: Alison #161, Camryn #2085 — Alison higher
- 2000s: Alison #248, Camryn #233 — Camryn higher
- 2010s: Alison #326, Camryn #374 — Alison higher
- 2020s: Alison #464, Camryn #444 — Camryn higher
Alison stood higher in 11 of 13 decades; Camryn took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alison | Camryn |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1800 | — |
| 1910s | #1939 | — |
| 1920s | #2048 | — |
| 1930s | #1241 | — |
| 1940s | #783 | — |
| 1950s | #360 | — |
| 1960s | #250 | — |
| 1970s | #137 | #8418 |
| 1980s | #108 | #8891 |
| 1990s | #161 | #2085 |
| 2000s | #248 | #233 |
| 2010s | #326 | #374 |
| 2020s | #464 | #444 |
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
Alison
noble
Alison is Alice with the Old French diminutive -on: Alis plus -on, exactly as Marie gives Marion and Pierre gives Perrin. Alice runs back through Adelais to the Germanic adal, noble. So the name is little Alice, at a distance of nine hundred years.
adal → Adelais → Alice → Alison
How it traveled
The -on and -in endings were the ordinary French way of making a pet form in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, and English took a handful of the results as names in their own right: Alison, Marion, Perrin, Robin, Colin, Jocelin. Alison arrived with the Normans and was common enough by Chaucer's time to be the obvious name for an ordinary woman.
Camryn
from the Scottish surname Cameron, most often read as "crooked nose"
The Highland clan name is usually traced to Gaelic cam sròn, "crooked nose" — a nickname for an ancestor. A second reading points to cam brùn, "crooked hill", which would make it a place name rather than a personal description. Both are seriously argued, and the surname may in fact combine two unrelated families.
cam sròn (Gaelic) → Cameron → Camron → Camryn
How it traveled
Cameron began as a Scottish surname, borne by one of the Highland clans, and like many Scottish surnames it moved into the given-name column in the English-speaking world — first for boys, then, from the middle of the twentieth century onward, for girls as well. American parents who wanted the girls' side to be unmistakable reshaped the ending, and Camryn is the result: the same name with the middle syllable pressed out and -yn in place of -on.
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
Alison
AL-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. Alison, Allison and Alyson are said identically; the doubled l is the commoner American spelling and changes nothing.
- Ali — The front; shared with Alice, Alexandra and Alicia, and used for either child.
- Allie — The same sound spelled with two l's; a full name of its own.
- Sonny — Built from the ending; used within families and more often for boys.
Camryn
KAM-rin
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some speakers stretch it toward the three-syllable KAM-er-in, following Cameron; the two-syllable version is what the spelling is designed to signal.
- Cam — The standard short form, informal, and also given as a name in its own right to both boys and girls.
- Cammy — Informal and affectionate, more common within families than outside them.
- Ryn — Informal, drawn from the second syllable; used occasionally rather than by default.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alison if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAlison runs 3 syllables, Camryn 2
Choose Camryn if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsCamryn is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesCamryn is 2 syllables to Alison'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
Alison
Strengths
- A settled Germanic meaning at the end of a fully documented chain.
- Three short forms, two of which are full names in their own right.
- Continuous documented use in English and Scots for eight hundred years.
To consider
- Allison with two l's is commoner in America, so the spelling will be given often.
- It is strongly represented among people now in their thirties and forties, which places it in time.
- The very few boys given this spelling will be read as girls on paper.
Camryn
Strengths
- Rests on Cameron, a name nearly everyone already knows, so it is understood on first hearing even by people meeting it for the first time.
- Comes with Cam ready-made — a short form already in independent use, so it needs no inventing.
- Two clean syllables with the stress up front, which makes it carry well when called across a room.
To consider
- The spelling will need saying aloud. Camryn, Kamryn, Kameron, Camron and Cameron all sound close, and forms will sometimes come back with the wrong one.
- The -yn respelling belongs to a particular stretch of American naming, and the name is now easing back from its high point — it may read as of its moment rather than timeless.
- The likeliest meaning, "crooked nose", is a nickname for a long-dead Highlander rather than something flattering. It is a common fate for surname-names, and few people ever ask.
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 Alison and Camryn in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Alison and Camryn?
Put both to the vote.
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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
Where Alison and Camryn each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alison or Camryn — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alison or Camryn?
- They tie in 2025: Alison ranked #476 with 644 babies; Camryn ranked #476 with 644 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alison or Camryn?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Alison moved down 36 places; Camryn moved down 69 places.
- Which is the older name, Alison or Camryn?
- Alison entered the US charts in 1905; Camryn entered the US charts in 1974. On the American record, Alison is the older name.
- How many people are named Alison and Camryn?
- About 111,000 people named Alison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 30,500 people named Camryn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Alisons or Camryns in the classroom?
- Alison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Camryn 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
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