Head to head · Girls' names
Allison vs Amara
#103 vs #98 in 2025
Amara is a whisker ahead (#98 vs #103 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Amara is climbing the charts fast, Allison 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
The tape is even: Allison and Amara each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Allison #1862, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1910s: Allison #1966, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1920s: Allison #1862, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1930s: Allison #1618, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1940s: Allison #1123, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1950s: Allison #471, Amara — — Allison higher
- 1960s: Allison #211, Amara #5544 — Allison higher
- 1970s: Allison #94, Amara #3375 — Allison higher
- 1980s: Allison #51, Amara #2156 — Allison higher
- 1990s: Allison #41, Amara #1272 — Allison higher
- 2000s: Allison #42, Amara #660 — Allison higher
- 2010s: Allison #49, Amara #420 — Allison higher
- 2020s: Allison #94, Amara #128 — Allison higher
Allison stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Allison | Amara |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1862 | — |
| 1910s | #1966 | — |
| 1920s | #1862 | — |
| 1930s | #1618 | — |
| 1940s | #1123 | — |
| 1950s | #471 | — |
| 1960s | #211 | #5544 |
| 1970s | #94 | #3375 |
| 1980s | #51 | #2156 |
| 1990s | #41 | #1272 |
| 2000s | #42 | #660 |
| 2010s | #49 | #420 |
| 2020s | #94 | #128 |
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
Allison
noble kind, from Alice
Alison began as a diminutive of Alice, which descends from the Germanic Adalheidis: adal 'noble' plus heid 'kind, sort'. Allison is the same name, respelled through the surname.
Adalheidis → Adelais → Alice → Alisoun → Allison
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic Adalheidis, which came into Old French as Adelais and then wore down to Alis or Alice. Norman French added the affectionate ending -on, and Alisoun arrived in England after the Conquest as a name for ordinary women — Chaucer used it for the carpenter's wife in the Miller's Tale and for the Wife of Bath.
Amara
'grace' in Igbo; 'immortal, undying' in Sanskrit; 'bitter' in Latin
These are three genuinely separate roots that happen to meet at one spelling. In Igbo, amara means grace or mercy, and sits inside the longer names Amarachi and Amarachukwu, 'God's grace'. In Sanskrit, amara means immortal or undying, the negative of a root for dying. In Latin, amara is the feminine of amarus, bitter, and survives in Italian as the ordinary word. Which reading applies depends entirely on which tradition a family is drawing from, and none of the three cancels the others.
How it traveled
There is no single homeland for this name. The Igbo of southeastern Nigeria have long used amara, grace, as a name element, most fully in Amarachi and Amarachukwu, and the short form Amara travels with Igbo families wherever they settle.
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
Allison
AL-ih-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The middle vowel is light, so it can sound like AL-uh-sun in quick speech. No pronunciation difference between Allison and Alison.
- Allie — The most common short form; also given as a standalone name, and shared with Alexandra, Alyssa and Alice.
- Ally — Same nickname, the other spelling; used informally and often kept into adulthood.
- Al — Clipped and casual, used within families more than outside them.
- Alli — A third spelling of the same short form, mostly written rather than heard.
- Also Lissy.
Amara
uh-MAR-uh
The usual American reading puts the stress on the middle syllable. In Igbo the three syllables are more evenly weighted, closer to ah-MAH-rah, and many families keep that fuller vowel. Both are correct; it helps to decide which one you will be repeating.
- Mara — The most natural short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right in several European languages.
- Ama — Informal clip of the first two syllables; also stands alone as an Akan day name for a girl born on Saturday.
- Ami — Casual, family-level short form; spelled Amy by some, which shifts it toward a different name entirely.
Who has carried each name
Allison
Allison Janney (b. 1959) — Oscar winner (I, Tonya) and The West Wing's C.J.
Allison Williams (b. 1988) — Girls and Get Out star
Amara
No documented entry for Amara yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Allison if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAllison is stepping back from its peak
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Allie, Ally and Al
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 53% for Amara
Choose Amara if you want…
- a name on the way upup 44 places on the charts in five years
- a name that feels very nowAmara is climbing the charts fast
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
Allison
Strengths
- Immediately recognizable and pronounceable to English speakers, with no ambiguity about how the sounds go.
- Long documented line back through medieval England to Alice, so it is old without sounding antique.
- Established short forms already in real use — Allie, Ally, Al — none of which you have to invent.
To consider
- Allison, Alison, Allyson and Alyson all exist and all sound identical, so she will spell it out often. The double-L is the American default; outside the US, one L is the safer assumption.
- Allie and Ally arrive at the same nickname from Alexandra, Alyssa, Alice and Alexis, so the short form is far less distinctive than the full name.
- It rose late enough that a great many bearers are adults now rather than children — the name reads current, but it is not new.
Amara
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, with no silent letters and no fork in the road for a stranger reading it aloud.
- Belongs independently to Igbo, Sanskrit and Latin traditions, so it is recognizable rather than foreign in a wide range of families.
- Has real short forms already in use — Mara, Ama — rather than none at all or one you would have to invent.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood — Amira, Amaya, Amora, Tamara — so expect the occasional gentle correction rather than outright misspelling.
- Italian and Romanian speakers will hear the everyday word for 'bitter' before they hear a name. Worth knowing if that is your family's language.
- The name is on a clear upward path. A child born now is likely to meet more Amaras by high school than the current picture suggests, though nothing near the level of a top-ten name.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Allison
12%chance Allison feels dated by 2040
Allison has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Amara
53%chance Amara feels dated by 2040
Amara is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Allison and Amara 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 Allison and Amara?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Allison and Amara — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Allison or Amara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Allison or Amara?
- Amara, in 2025: Amara ranked #98 with 2,630 babies; Allison ranked #103 with 2,564 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Allison or Amara?
- Amara. Over the last five years Allison moved down 23 places; Amara moved up 44 places.
- Which is the older name, Allison or Amara?
- Allison entered the US charts in 1908; Amara entered the US charts in 1961. On the American record, Allison is the older name.
- How many people are named Allison and Amara?
- About 311,000 people named Allison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Amara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Allisons or Amaras in the classroom?
- Allison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Amara 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 Allison, Amara and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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