Head to head · Girls' names
Amari vs Astrid
#380 vs #376 in 2025
Astrid is a whisker ahead (#376 vs #380 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Astrid is climbing the charts fast, Amari 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, Astrid leads 4 measures of 6; Amari 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: Amari —, Astrid #1350 — Astrid higher
- 1900s: Amari —, Astrid #1155 — Astrid higher
- 1910s: Amari —, Astrid #940 — Astrid higher
- 1920s: Amari —, Astrid #1792 — Astrid higher
- 1930s: Amari —, Astrid #1583 — Astrid higher
- 1940s: Amari —, Astrid #2702 — Astrid higher
- 1950s: Amari —, Astrid #2870 — Astrid higher
- 1960s: Amari —, Astrid #2078 — Astrid higher
- 1970s: Amari —, Astrid #2410 — Astrid higher
- 1980s: Amari #8076, Astrid #1954 — Astrid higher
- 1990s: Amari #1918, Astrid #1230 — Astrid higher
- 2000s: Amari #459, Astrid #1140 — Amari higher
- 2010s: Amari #454, Astrid #879 — Amari higher
- 2020s: Amari #327, Astrid #409 — Amari higher
Astrid stood higher in 11 of 14 decades; Amari has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amari | Astrid |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1350 |
| 1900s | — | #1155 |
| 1910s | — | #940 |
| 1920s | — | #1792 |
| 1930s | — | #1583 |
| 1940s | — | #2702 |
| 1950s | — | #2870 |
| 1960s | — | #2078 |
| 1970s | — | #2410 |
| 1980s | #8076 | #1954 |
| 1990s | #1918 | #1230 |
| 2000s | #459 | #1140 |
| 2010s | #454 | #879 |
| 2020s | #327 | #409 |
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
Amari
No single agreed reading; the two strongest are 'immortal, undying' and 'the Lord has spoken'
Three serious roads lead to this sound. Sanskrit amara, 'immortal, undying', gives Punjabi and Hindi Amar and names like Amarjit. Hebrew Amaryah (Amariah), 'the Lord has said', appears in Chronicles and Nehemiah. Arabic supplies Amir, 'prince, commander', and Ammar, 'long-lived'. Amari as it is used in the United States may draw on any of these, and for many families it works simply as a name in its own right, built on a sound pattern already common here.
How it traveled
Amari's documented history in the United States is short and clear: it appeared in the national records within living memory and has climbed gradually rather than in a spike, which is why nearly everyone who carries it is still young. Its sound, though, is much older than its American life.
Astrid
Divinely beautiful — from Old Norse áss, 'god', and fríðr, 'fair, beautiful'
The second element fríðr is also read as 'beloved' in some Norse names, which shifts the sense slightly toward 'beloved of the gods'; the first element, áss, is not in dispute.
Ástríðr → Estrid → Åstrid → Astrid
How it traveled
Ástríðr is an Old Norse compound of áss, 'god', and fríðr, 'fair', and it belonged to the medieval Scandinavian nobility — Astrid Olofsdotter, daughter of the Swedish king, married Olaf II of Norway in the eleventh century. The older Danish and Swedish form Estrid was in use in the same period.
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
Amari
uh-MAR-ee
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. Some families say ah-MAH-ree, with a fuller first vowel; both are heard and neither needs correcting.
- Ari — The most common short form, and a full given name on its own for boys and girls alike.
- Mari — Informal, from the second half of the name; also stands alone as a given name in Welsh, Japanese and Scandinavian use.
- Am — Casual, family-level, rarely written down.
- Amar — Used informally by some families, and a complete given name in its own right in South Asia.
Astrid
AS-trid
Stress on the first syllable; the second rhymes with 'did'. Swedish and Norwegian speakers use a broader first vowel, closer to AH-strid, and both are recognized.
- Astri — The standard short form in Norway, where it also stands alone as a given name.
- Asta — Long established in Denmark and Norway both as a clipping and as an independent name.
- Sassa — A Swedish pet form, informal and family-level rather than official.
- Assi — An informal Scandinavian pet form, used within families more than outside them.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Amari if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAmari is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAmari runs 3 syllables, Astrid 2
Choose Astrid if you want…
- a name on the way upup 73 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAstrid is 2 syllables to Amari's 3
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
Amari
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and said the way it looks — most people get it right on the first try, in speech and on paper.
- Works for a boy or a girl with no change of spelling or pronunciation.
- Has real short forms already in use: Ari and Mari, both of which stand alone as names.
To consider
- Most Amaris in the United States are boys, though a real minority are girls. For a daughter, that means forms and rosters will sometimes assume otherwise — easily corrected, but worth knowing in advance.
- It lives close to Amara, Amaris, Amaya and Amir, and people will occasionally reach for one of those instead. Expect a gentle correction now and then rather than a lifelong battle.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled. If you want one clean answer to give a curious child, you will be choosing between good ones rather than reciting a fact.
Astrid
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and the same six letters work in Swedish, German, Dutch, French and Spanish without adjustment.
- A documented record running unbroken from the Viking age to the present, so it is old without being a revival curiosity.
- Short forms already exist and are centuries old — Astri, Asta, Sassa — rather than having to be invented.
To consider
- The -str- cluster is a mouthful for a toddler learning to say their own name, and for other small children saying it back. Most families find it sorts itself out, but the first couple of years can involve some 'Assi' or 'Asti'.
- It is climbing quickly in the United States. A child born now is unlikely to share it in a classroom, but the name will be noticeably more familiar by the time they are grown than it is today.
- Expect an occasional slide into 'Astrid' being heard as 'Ashtrid' or written as 'Astride', and a fair number of people will connect it first to the character in How to Train Your Dragon rather than to anything Norse.
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 Amari and Astrid 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 Amari and Astrid?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names ending in -i
- Scandinavian names, cool by design
- Norse mythology names
- Viking names from the sagas
- all guides
Where Amari and Astrid each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amari or Astrid — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amari or Astrid?
- Astrid, in 2025: Astrid ranked #376 with 818 babies; Amari ranked #380 with 804 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amari or Astrid?
- Astrid. Over the last five years Amari moved down 51 places; Astrid moved up 73 places.
- Which is the older name, Amari or Astrid?
- Amari entered the US charts in 1980; Astrid entered the US charts in 1892. On the American record, Astrid is the older name.
- How many people are named Amari and Astrid?
- About 21,000 people named Amari are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,000 people named Astrid are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amaris or Astrids in the classroom?
- Amari will almost certainly be the only one in school. Astrid 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 Amari, Astrid and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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