Head to head · Girls' names
Amara vs Georgia
#98 vs #99 in 2025
Amara is a whisker ahead (#98 vs #99 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Amara is climbing the charts fast, Georgia is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Georgia has the edge.
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, Georgia leads 4 measures of 6; Amara 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: Amara —, Georgia #86 — Georgia higher
- 1890s: Amara —, Georgia #93 — Georgia higher
- 1900s: Amara —, Georgia #93 — Georgia higher
- 1910s: Amara —, Georgia #103 — Georgia higher
- 1920s: Amara —, Georgia #115 — Georgia higher
- 1930s: Amara —, Georgia #126 — Georgia higher
- 1940s: Amara —, Georgia #126 — Georgia higher
- 1950s: Amara —, Georgia #209 — Georgia higher
- 1960s: Amara #5544, Georgia #333 — Georgia higher
- 1970s: Amara #3375, Georgia #486 — Georgia higher
- 1980s: Amara #2156, Georgia #644 — Georgia higher
- 1990s: Amara #1272, Georgia #574 — Georgia higher
- 2000s: Amara #660, Georgia #338 — Georgia higher
- 2010s: Amara #420, Georgia #254 — Georgia higher
- 2020s: Amara #128, Georgia #141 — Amara higher
Georgia stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Amara took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amara | Georgia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #86 |
| 1890s | — | #93 |
| 1900s | — | #93 |
| 1910s | — | #103 |
| 1920s | — | #115 |
| 1930s | — | #126 |
| 1940s | — | #126 |
| 1950s | — | #209 |
| 1960s | #5544 | #333 |
| 1970s | #3375 | #486 |
| 1980s | #2156 | #644 |
| 1990s | #1272 | #574 |
| 2000s | #660 | #338 |
| 2010s | #420 | #254 |
| 2020s | #128 | #141 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Amara
Not charting outside the US.
Georgia
- Scotland#39
- Canada#45
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Georgia
farmer
The Greek name behind it joins the words for earth and work, and the reading is settled. The state is named after a British king and the country is not named after either.
Georgios → Georgia
How it traveled
Georgia O'Keeffe painted flowers very large, on the straightforward logic that nobody looks at a small one, and critics decided almost immediately that the paintings were about female anatomy. The reading was proposed by her husband, who was promoting her work, and it stuck for the rest of the century.
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
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.
Georgia
JOR-juh
Three syllables on paper and two or three in speech depending on the speaker. The Italian form is said JOR-jah.
- Georgie — The affectionate form; works for a child of either sex.
- Gia — Built from the back of the name; a name in its own right.
Who has carried each name
Amara
No documented entry for Amara yet.
Georgia
Georgia O'Keeffe (b. 1887) — Painter of monumental flowers, the "Mother of American Modernism"
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 Amara if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAmara runs 3 syllables, Georgia 2
- a newer arrivalAmara entered the US charts in 1961
- a name that feels very nowAmara is climbing the charts fast
Choose Georgia if you want…
- a name on the way upup 78 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesGeorgia is 2 syllables to Amara's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooGeorgia is on the national lists of Scotland and Canada
- a long American recordGeorgia was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
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.
Georgia
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and can be given in one word.
- It works in English, Italian and Greek households with only a shift of vowel.
- Georgie and Gia are both available as short forms and are very different in register.
To consider
- It is the name of an American state and of a country, so it carries two strong geographical associations at once.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- A very famous song owns the name for a certain generation of listeners.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to 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.
Georgia
30%chance Georgia feels dated by 2040
Georgia 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.
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 Amara and Georgia 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 Amara and Georgia?
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 Amara and Georgia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amara or Georgia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amara or Georgia?
- Amara, in 2025: Amara ranked #98 with 2,630 babies; Georgia ranked #99 with 2,619 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amara or Georgia?
- Georgia. Over the last five years Amara moved up 44 places; Georgia moved up 78 places.
- Which is the older name, Amara or Georgia?
- Amara entered the US charts in 1961; Georgia was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Georgia is the older name.
- How many people are named Amara and Georgia?
- About 29,000 people named Amara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 85,000 people named Georgia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amaras or Georgias in the classroom?
- Amara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Georgia 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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