Head to head · Girls' names
Alma vs Alyssa
#449 vs #453 in 2025
Alma is a whisker ahead (#449 vs #453 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Alma is back after a long quiet spell, Alyssa 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, Alma leads 4 measures of 6; Alyssa 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
- 1880s: Alma #70, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1890s: Alma #53, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1900s: Alma #56, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1910s: Alma #68, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1920s: Alma #91, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1930s: Alma #129, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1940s: Alma #188, Alyssa — — Alma higher
- 1950s: Alma #275, Alyssa #3751 — Alma higher
- 1960s: Alma #374, Alyssa #914 — Alma higher
- 1970s: Alma #384, Alyssa #383 — Alyssa higher
- 1980s: Alma #401, Alyssa #142 — Alyssa higher
- 1990s: Alma #428, Alyssa #23 — Alyssa higher
- 2000s: Alma #628, Alyssa #15 — Alyssa higher
- 2010s: Alma #727, Alyssa #90 — Alyssa higher
- 2020s: Alma #489, Alyssa #318 — Alyssa higher
Alma stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Alyssa has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Alma | Alyssa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #70 | — |
| 1890s | #53 | — |
| 1900s | #56 | — |
| 1910s | #68 | — |
| 1920s | #91 | — |
| 1930s | #129 | — |
| 1940s | #188 | — |
| 1950s | #275 | #3751 |
| 1960s | #374 | #914 |
| 1970s | #384 | #383 |
| 1980s | #401 | #142 |
| 1990s | #428 | #23 |
| 2000s | #628 | #15 |
| 2010s | #727 | #90 |
| 2020s | #489 | #318 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Alma
- France#4
Alyssa
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Alma
"Nourishing, kind" in Latin; "soul" in Spanish and Portuguese
Alma is one spelling that several languages arrived at independently, which is why no single reading wins. Latin almus, feminine alma, means "nourishing" or "kind" and survives in alma mater, "nourishing mother." In Spanish, Portuguese and poetic Italian, alma is simply the word for soul. In Turkic languages, including Crimean Tatar, alma means apple — the same word behind Hungarian alma. Hebrew almah, "young woman," is a separate word that the name has been attached to in Jewish families. All of these are real; none cancels the others.
almus (Latin, "nourishing") → alma (Latin feminine; Spanish and Portuguese "soul") → Alma
How it traveled
The Latin adjective almus, "nourishing," was applied to goddesses and later to universities, giving the phrase alma mater. Quite separately, Spanish and Portuguese inherited alma as the plain word for soul, and Turkic languages carried an unrelated alma meaning apple — the source of the river Alma in Crimea.
Alyssa
Either 'noble' (through Alice) or the flower alyssum, from Greek for 'without madness'
Most reference works treat Alyssa as an English respelling of Alice or Alicia, which descend from Germanic Adalheidis, 'noble kind'. The other serious reading is botanical: the flower name alyssum comes from Greek a- 'not' plus lyssa 'rabies, madness', because the plant was used in antiquity as a remedy for rabies. Both readings are genuinely held, and the spelling with -y- fits either.
Adalheidis → Adelaide → Alice → Alicia → Alyssa
How it traveled
The deep root is Germanic: Adalheidis, built from words for 'noble' and 'kind', which became Adelaide and then, worn smooth in medieval France and England, Alice. Spanish and Latin took the same name as Alicia, and it is from that longer form that the -ssa endings grew in English-speaking countries.
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
Alma
AL-muh
Stress on the first syllable. Spanish and Portuguese speakers say AHL-mah, with a fuller first vowel; both are the same name, and neither needs correcting.
- Al — The main short form in English-speaking households; informal, and also a short form of several men's names.
- Allie — Informal; shared with Alice, Allison and Alexandra, and used as a standalone given name too.
- Almita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families rather than as a public name.
- Ally — Spelling variant of Allie, informal, more common among younger speakers.
Alyssa
uh-LISS-uh
Stress on the middle syllable. Some families say ah-LISS-uh; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting. The y is pronounced exactly like an i.
- Aly — The most common short form; also spelled Ally or Ali, and used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Lyssa — Informal, taken from the second half of the name; occasionally registered on its own.
- Lissa — Informal variant of the same clipping, with the simpler spelling.
- Lyss — Very informal, mostly among friends and siblings.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Alma if you want…
- a name on the way upup 111 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAlma is 2 syllables to Alyssa's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAlma is on the national lists of France
- a long American recordAlma was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Alyssa if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAlyssa runs 3 syllables, Alma 2
- a newer arrivalAlyssa entered the US charts in 1950
- a name that feels very nowAlyssa is stepping back from its peak
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
Alma
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Swedish, Hungarian and Bosnian — no adjusting for grandparents or passports.
- Two syllables and entirely phonetic; almost no one will need it spelled out twice.
- On record in the United States since the earliest years of national name statistics, and never fully out of use since.
To consider
- To Spanish and Portuguese speakers, Alma is not an opaque name but a familiar word — soul. Whether that lands as lovely or as a little literal depends entirely on the family.
- Most Almas in the United States today are well into later life, so some ears will place the name a couple of generations back before they place it as new again.
- It sits close to Alba, Elma and Ilma, and over the phone the first vowel occasionally gets misheard. A single repeat usually fixes it.
Alyssa
Strengths
- Pronunciation is obvious to English speakers on sight — no one has to be taught how to say it.
- Belongs to the Alice and Alicia family, so it connects easily across English, Spanish, French and Polish.
- Has established short forms already in real use: Aly, Lyssa, Lissa.
To consider
- The spelling competes with Alissa, Alisa, Alysa and Alyssia. Expect to spell it aloud fairly often, though 'Alyssa with a y' settles it quickly.
- It is closely tied to one generation of Americans now in adulthood, which is why it can read as recent rather than classic — and why a child named Alyssa is unlikely to share a classroom with another.
- The flower etymology, if you like it, comes with an odd literal sense — Greek for 'without madness', from a plant once used against rabies. Charming as a footnote, less so if you want a meaning that stands alone.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Alma
30%chance Alma feels dated by 2040
Alma is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
Alyssa
83%chance Alyssa feels dated by 2040
Alyssa is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 1998). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Alma and Alyssa in full.
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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
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- France's favorites still rare in America
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- all guides
Where Alma and Alyssa each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Alma or Alyssa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Alma or Alyssa?
- Alma, in 2025: Alma ranked #449 with 689 babies; Alyssa ranked #453 with 680 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Alma or Alyssa?
- Alma. Over the last five years Alma moved up 111 places; Alyssa moved down 254 places.
- Which is the older name, Alma or Alyssa?
- Alma was already in use when US records began in 1880; Alyssa entered the US charts in 1950. On the American record, Alma is the older name.
- How many people are named Alma and Alyssa?
- About 56,000 people named Alma are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 310,000 people named Alyssa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Almas or Alyssas in the classroom?
- Alma will almost certainly be the only one in school. Alyssa 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
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