Head to head · Girls' names
Allison vs Margot
#103 vs #102 in 2025
Margot is a whisker ahead (#102 vs #103 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Margot 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
On the charts, Margot leads 4 measures of 6; Allison leads 2.
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
- 1890s: Allison —, Margot #1487 — Margot higher
- 1900s: Allison #1862, Margot #1439 — Margot higher
- 1910s: Allison #1966, Margot #1195 — Margot higher
- 1920s: Allison #1862, Margot #1128 — Margot higher
- 1930s: Allison #1618, Margot #646 — Margot higher
- 1940s: Allison #1123, Margot #721 — Margot higher
- 1950s: Allison #471, Margot #921 — Allison higher
- 1960s: Allison #211, Margot #970 — Allison higher
- 1970s: Allison #94, Margot #1644 — Allison higher
- 1980s: Allison #51, Margot #1351 — Allison higher
- 1990s: Allison #41, Margot #1615 — Allison higher
- 2000s: Allison #42, Margot #1723 — Allison higher
- 2010s: Allison #49, Margot #753 — Allison higher
- 2020s: Allison #94, Margot #166 — Allison higher
Allison stood higher in 8 of 14 decades; Allison has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Allison | Margot |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1487 |
| 1900s | #1862 | #1439 |
| 1910s | #1966 | #1195 |
| 1920s | #1862 | #1128 |
| 1930s | #1618 | #646 |
| 1940s | #1123 | #721 |
| 1950s | #471 | #921 |
| 1960s | #211 | #970 |
| 1970s | #94 | #1644 |
| 1980s | #51 | #1351 |
| 1990s | #41 | #1615 |
| 2000s | #42 | #1723 |
| 2010s | #49 | #753 |
| 2020s | #94 | #166 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Allison
Not charting outside the US.
Margot
- England & Wales#28
- France#46
- Canada#68
- Scotland#79
National statistics offices, latest published year.
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.
Margot
pearl
The pearl sense comes through Marguerite from Latin margarita and Greek margarites. In French, marguerite is also the word for a daisy, so the flower travels alongside the name.
Margarites → Margarita → Marguerite → Margot
How it traveled
The root is the Greek margarites, pearl, which passed into Latin as margarita and into medieval French as Marguerite — a name spread widely across Europe by the cult of Saint Margaret. Margot arose as its clipped familiar form in French and stuck there for centuries: Marguerite de Valois, the sixteenth-century queen of Navarre, was known as la reine Margot, and Dumas used exactly that title for his novel in 1845.
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.
Margot
MAR-go
The final t is silent, following the French. A hard-t reading (MAR-got) turns up occasionally in English and is worth deciding on early, since the spelling invites both.
- Margo — The same name without the French t; used as a full given name in its own right as often as a simplification.
- Mags — Informal, borrowed from the Margaret side of the family; playground and family use rather than paperwork.
- Mo — Very informal, one syllable, mostly within families.
- Margie — An older short form more associated with Margaret and Marjorie, occasionally used here too.
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
Margot
Margot Robbie (b. 1990) — Barbie herself — and an Oscar-nominated producer
Margot Fonteyn (b. 1919) — Prima ballerina assoluta of the Royal Ballet
Margot Frank (b. 1926) — Anne Frank's older sister
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
- a name with more sound in itAllison runs 3 syllables, Margot 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 59% for Margot
Choose Margot if you want…
- a name on the way upup 132 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMargot is 2 syllables to Allison's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMargot is on the national lists of England & Wales, France, Canada and Scotland
- a name that feels very nowMargot 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.
Margot
Strengths
- Two syllables, stress on the first, and no cluster of consonants to trip over when said aloud.
- Already a short form, so it needs no nickname to work in daily life.
- Belongs to one of Europe's largest name families — Marguerite, Margaret, Margherita, Margarita all connect back to it.
To consider
- The silent t means a lifetime of small corrections: Margot, Margo and Margaux all sound the same, and people will guess wrong in both directions.
- The name is climbing quickly, so a child born now may meet more Margots than today's numbers suggest — the classroom picture tends to lag the trend by a few years.
- In recent memory the name is strongly attached to one very visible actor, which can mean an association-by-reflex for a while. Fame moves on; the name predates it by centuries.
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.
Margot
59%chance Margot feels dated by 2040
Margot 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 Margot 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 Margot?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Allison and Margot — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Allison or Margot — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Allison or Margot?
- Margot, in 2025: Margot ranked #102 with 2,575 babies; Allison ranked #103 with 2,564 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Allison or Margot?
- Margot. Over the last five years Allison moved down 23 places; Margot moved up 132 places.
- Which is the older name, Allison or Margot?
- Allison entered the US charts in 1908; Margot entered the US charts in 1894. On the American record, Margot is the older name.
- How many people are named Allison and Margot?
- About 311,000 people named Allison are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 23,000 people named Margot are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Allisons or Margots in the classroom?
- Allison will almost certainly be the only one in school. Margot will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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