Head to head · Girls' names
Allie vs Hadassah
#569 vs #569 in 2025
Allie and Hadassah share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#569). 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, Allie leads 3 measures of 6; Hadassah 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
- 1880s: Allie #143, Hadassah — — Allie higher
- 1890s: Allie #171, Hadassah — — Allie higher
- 1900s: Allie #193, Hadassah — — Allie higher
- 1910s: Allie #278, Hadassah #3797 — Allie higher
- 1920s: Allie #356, Hadassah #4592 — Allie higher
- 1930s: Allie #476, Hadassah #3956 — Allie higher
- 1940s: Allie #792, Hadassah #4229 — Allie higher
- 1950s: Allie #1403, Hadassah #5020 — Allie higher
- 1960s: Allie #2681, Hadassah #6396 — Allie higher
- 1970s: Allie #2635, Hadassah #5084 — Allie higher
- 1980s: Allie #1509, Hadassah #3945 — Allie higher
- 1990s: Allie #458, Hadassah #2675 — Allie higher
- 2000s: Allie #295, Hadassah #1549 — Allie higher
- 2010s: Allie #267, Hadassah #739 — Allie higher
- 2020s: Allie #489, Hadassah #613 — Allie higher
Allie stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Allie | Hadassah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #143 | — |
| 1890s | #171 | — |
| 1900s | #193 | — |
| 1910s | #278 | #3797 |
| 1920s | #356 | #4592 |
| 1930s | #476 | #3956 |
| 1940s | #792 | #4229 |
| 1950s | #1403 | #5020 |
| 1960s | #2681 | #6396 |
| 1970s | #2635 | #5084 |
| 1980s | #1509 | #3945 |
| 1990s | #458 | #2675 |
| 2000s | #295 | #1549 |
| 2010s | #267 | #739 |
| 2020s | #489 | #613 |
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
Allie
depends on the longer name behind it
As a pet form, Allie inherits its meaning from whichever name it stands for. Through Alice — the largest road — it goes back to Germanic Adalheidis, 'noble kind, noble sort'. Through Alison, a medieval Norman diminutive of that same Alice. Through Alexandra, Greek for 'defender of people'. Through Alberta, 'bright nobility'. Used alone, it carries all of these and settles on none.
Adalheidis → Adelheid → Aalis / Alice → Alison → Allie
How it traveled
Alice arrived in England with the Normans as Aalis, a worn-down form of the Germanic name Adalheidis, and it became one of the steadiest women's names in the language. Medieval English and French speakers shortened and re-suffixed it constantly, producing Alison, Alys, Alie and eventually the -ie spelling familiar today.
Hadassah
Myrtle (the tree)
From Hebrew hadas, the myrtle — one of the four species carried at Sukkot.
hadas (Hebrew, myrtle) → Hadassah → Edissa (Latin Vulgate)
How it traveled
The name appears once in the Hebrew Bible, in Esther 2:7, where the heroine is introduced by her Hebrew name Hadassah before the Persian court name Esther takes over the story. Latin tradition carried the verse forward as Edissa in the Vulgate, while Hebrew and Yiddish speakers kept Hadassah in living use as a given 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
Allie
AL-ee
First syllable as in 'alley', stress on the front. It is not pronounced ah-LEE; that is the separate Arabic name Ali.
- Al — The only real further shortening; informal, used in families and among friends, and also a standalone short form for men named Albert or Alan.
- Ally — Not so much a nickname as the other common spelling of the same sound; some Allies are written both ways by different people.
- Allie-Bear / Allie-Cat — Household rhyming extensions, entirely informal and outgrown early.
Hadassah
huh-DAH-suh
Hebrew speakers place a fuller stress on the last syllable: hah-dah-SAH. American English usually settles on the middle syllable, and some families say HAD-uh-suh. All three are in genuine use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Dassi — An informal short form used in Orthodox Jewish communities.
- Hadas — A standalone given name in Israel as well as a short form of the longer name.
- Dassah — Informal, clipped from the second half of the name.
- Hattie — An English-sounding nickname borrowed from the sound of the first syllables; also a 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 Allie if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAllie is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAllie is 2 syllables to Hadassah's 3
- a long American recordAllie was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Hadassah if you want…
- a name on the way upup 100 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itHadassah runs 3 syllables, Allie 2
- a newer arrivalHadassah entered the US charts in 1910
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
Allie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight by nearly everyone in English.
- Works as the everyday form of Alice, Alison, Alexandra or Alberta, so a longer legal name remains an option without changing what she's called.
- On record as a given name in its own right for well over a century, never fashionable enough to date sharply to one decade.
To consider
- Ally, Alie and Alli are all in circulation for the same sound, so expect to spell it out fairly often — and to be spelled the other way by people who mean well.
- It is written the same as the ordinary word 'ally', and sounds close to 'alley'. In practice this rarely causes trouble, but it is there.
- Some parents feel a pet form used alone stays informal on a résumé or a diploma; registering Alice or Alison and calling her Allie is the traditional way around that, and plenty of families skip it happily.
Hadassah
Strengths
- A settled, documented meaning — the myrtle — with a single clear biblical source in Esther 2:7, so the answer never changes.
- Recognizable in Hebrew, English, Spanish and French with only small spelling shifts.
- Several real short forms already in use: Dassi, Hadas, Dassah.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating: two s's, an h at each end, and no obvious phonetic cue for the final -ah. Most people get there on the second try.
- For many American adults the first association is the women's Zionist organization and the Jerusalem hospital that bears the name, rather than a child.
- Stress placement varies between Hebrew and English usage, so she will hear her name said a few different ways before she learns which correction is worth making.
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 Allie and Hadassah 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 Allie and Hadassah?
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 Allie and Hadassah each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Allie or Hadassah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Allie or Hadassah?
- They tie in 2025: Allie ranked #569 with 529 babies; Hadassah ranked #569 with 529 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Allie or Hadassah?
- Hadassah. Over the last five years Allie moved down 140 places; Hadassah moved up 100 places.
- Which is the older name, Allie or Hadassah?
- Allie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Hadassah entered the US charts in 1910. On the American record, Allie is the older name.
- How many people are named Allie and Hadassah?
- About 37,500 people named Allie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,200 people named Hadassah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Allies or Hadassahs in the classroom?
- Allie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Hadassah 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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