Head to head · Girls' names
Amanda vs Amirah
#493 vs #490 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Amirah is a whisker ahead (#490 vs #493 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name 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
The tape is even: Amanda and Amirah 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
- 1880s: Amanda #92, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1890s: Amanda #120, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1900s: Amanda #179, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1910s: Amanda #275, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1920s: Amanda #385, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1930s: Amanda #468, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1940s: Amanda #450, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1950s: Amanda #384, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1960s: Amanda #214, Amirah — — Amanda higher
- 1970s: Amanda #40, Amirah #4979 — Amanda higher
- 1980s: Amanda #3, Amirah #3195 — Amanda higher
- 1990s: Amanda #11, Amirah #2006 — Amanda higher
- 2000s: Amanda #83, Amirah #1121 — Amanda higher
- 2010s: Amanda #303, Amirah #719 — Amanda higher
- 2020s: Amanda #475, Amirah #524 — Amanda higher
Amanda stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amanda | Amirah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #92 | — |
| 1890s | #120 | — |
| 1900s | #179 | — |
| 1910s | #275 | — |
| 1920s | #385 | — |
| 1930s | #468 | — |
| 1940s | #450 | — |
| 1950s | #384 | — |
| 1960s | #214 | — |
| 1970s | #40 | #4979 |
| 1980s | #3 | #3195 |
| 1990s | #11 | #2006 |
| 2000s | #83 | #1121 |
| 2010s | #303 | #719 |
| 2020s | #475 | #524 |
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
Amanda
she who must be loved
The form is grammatically unambiguous and the verb is the ordinary Latin one for loving. What is unusual is that a name should be built out of a construction whose entire job is to impose a requirement.
amanda → Amanda
How it traveled
The name appears to have been made rather than inherited, and the stage made it. It turns up in English drama at the end of the seventeenth century, in a comedy about a husband who does not recognize his own wife when she is disguised, and the character is the wronged and patient one — which is a fairly heavy thing to call a woman whose name means she is owed love.
Amirah
princess
Amirah is the feminine of Arabic amīr, "commander, prince," from the root ʾ-m-r, "to command." Worth knowing separately: Hebrew has its own name Amira, usually spelled without the h, connected to words for a sheaf of grain and the top of a tree. Same sound, different road.
amīr (Arabic, "commander, prince") → amīrah ("princess") → Amira → Amirah
How it traveled
The masculine amīr has been a title of rank and command since the earliest centuries of Islamic history — amīr al-muʾminīn, Commander of the Faithful, was borne by caliphs from the seventh century onward — and amīrah is its feminine, the ordinary Arabic word for a princess. As a given name it is used across the Arabic-speaking world and far beyond it, including widely in Malaysia and Indonesia.
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
Amanda
uh-MAN-duh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle. Latin, Spanish and English all put it in the same place, which makes the name unusually stable across languages.
- Mandy — The dominant short form and a standing name in its own right.
- Manda — The name with its first vowel removed; plainer and rather brisk.
- Amy — Reached from the front; a complete name of its own with a related sense.
Amirah
ah-MEE-rah
The final h is silent — it marks the Arabic feminine ending rather than a sound. In American English you will also hear uh-MEER-uh, with the last syllable softened; both are in ordinary use, so it is worth deciding early which one your family says.
- Mira — The most common short form in English, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Amy — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; also stands alone as a given name familiar to every generation in the US.
- Mimi — Family nickname, usually from the middle syllable rather than the spelling.
- Ami — Informal shortening used within families; spelled Amy, Ami or Amie depending on household preference.
One short form, two names
- Amanda and Amirah both shorten to Amy.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Amanda if you want…
- a name holding steadyAmanda is holding its place on the charts
- a long American recordAmanda was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Amirah if you want…
- a name on the way upup 55 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalAmirah entered the US charts in 1976
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
Amanda
Strengths
- The meaning is unusually specific and rather flattering to its bearer.
- It is recognized without alteration across most of Europe and the Americas.
- Mandy sits inside it as a short form with a completely different register.
To consider
- Its peak was very large and very recent, so the name dates its bearer to a decade.
- The obligation the grammar imposes is a lot to hand to a child.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Amirah
Strengths
- The meaning is transparent to Arabic speakers worldwide — no explaining needed across a very large part of the globe.
- Ready-made short forms that already exist as names on their own: Mira, Amy.
- Used across Arabic, Malay, Indonesian, Bosnian and Swahili-speaking communities, so it travels without being reshaped.
To consider
- Amirah and Amira compete as spellings, and neither is rare. Expect to spell it out, and expect the h to be dropped by people writing it down quickly.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood with Amira, Amina, Amara, Amaya and Samira. Mix-ups are more likely than mispronunciations.
- The name is centuries old, but its American wave is recent — most people carrying this spelling here are still young, so US namesakes of an older generation are few. Elsewhere it has a much longer local history.
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 Amanda and Amirah 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 Amanda and Amirah?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 these names appear on
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- all guides
Where Amanda and Amirah each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amanda or Amirah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amanda or Amirah?
- Amirah, in 2025: Amirah ranked #490 with 603 babies; Amanda ranked #493 with 601 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amanda or Amirah?
- Amirah. Over the last five years Amanda moved down 49 places; Amirah moved up 55 places.
- Which is the older name, Amanda or Amirah?
- Amanda was already in use when US records began in 1880; Amirah entered the US charts in 1976. On the American record, Amanda is the older name.
- How many people are named Amanda and Amirah?
- About 750,000 people named Amanda are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,000 people named Amirah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Amanda and Amirah share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Amy, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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 Amanda, Amirah and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap