Head to head · Girls' names
Amari vs Ivory
#380 vs #378 in 2025
Ivory is a whisker ahead (#378 vs #380 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ivory 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, Ivory 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
- 1880s: Amari —, Ivory #1108 — Ivory higher
- 1890s: Amari —, Ivory #1034 — Ivory higher
- 1900s: Amari —, Ivory #875 — Ivory higher
- 1910s: Amari —, Ivory #939 — Ivory higher
- 1920s: Amari —, Ivory #1053 — Ivory higher
- 1930s: Amari —, Ivory #1052 — Ivory higher
- 1940s: Amari —, Ivory #1131 — Ivory higher
- 1950s: Amari —, Ivory #1423 — Ivory higher
- 1960s: Amari —, Ivory #2093 — Ivory higher
- 1970s: Amari —, Ivory #2175 — Ivory higher
- 1980s: Amari #8076, Ivory #1232 — Ivory higher
- 1990s: Amari #1918, Ivory #1411 — Ivory higher
- 2000s: Amari #459, Ivory #1553 — Amari higher
- 2010s: Amari #454, Ivory #911 — Amari higher
- 2020s: Amari #327, Ivory #498 — Amari higher
Ivory stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Amari has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amari | Ivory |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1108 |
| 1890s | — | #1034 |
| 1900s | — | #875 |
| 1910s | — | #939 |
| 1920s | — | #1053 |
| 1930s | — | #1052 |
| 1940s | — | #1131 |
| 1950s | — | #1423 |
| 1960s | — | #2093 |
| 1970s | — | #2175 |
| 1980s | #8076 | #1232 |
| 1990s | #1918 | #1411 |
| 2000s | #459 | #1553 |
| 2010s | #454 | #911 |
| 2020s | #327 | #498 |
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.
Ivory
ivory — the hard creamy-white material of elephant tusk, and the pale off-white shade named after it
The English word came through Old French ivoire from Latin ebur. How ebur itself arose is less clear; the Latin is where the secure trail begins.
ebur (Latin) → ivoire (Old French) → ivorie (Middle English) → Ivory
How it traveled
This is a word name, and an old word: ivory has meant tusk in English since the Middle Ages, when it arrived from Old French as one of the many Norman-era borrowings that reshaped the language. As a given name it belongs to the English-speaking habit of naming children after precious and beautiful substances — the same instinct behind Pearl, Opal and Amber.
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.
Ivory
EYE-vuh-ree
Often compressed to two syllables in fast speech, EYE-vree, exactly as the ordinary word is. Both are the same name; no correcting needed.
- Ivy — The usual short form, and a very well-established given name in its own right — worth knowing, since an Ivory may be called Ivy by default.
- Vee — Informal, usually secondhand from Ivy rather than direct from Ivory.
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
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Ari, Mari and Am
Choose Ivory if you want…
- a name on the way upup 223 places on the charts in five years
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.
Ivory
Strengths
- Spelling needs no explaining — it is an English word most people can write on first hearing.
- Ivy is ready as a short form, and it is a familiar name itself, so the nickname needs no introduction.
- Not a recent invention: it has been given to American children for generations, so it carries a record rather than a trend.
To consider
- The ivory trade and elephant poaching are the association some adults reach for first. Children rarely make that link, but it is a real one and it comes up in conversation from time to time.
- Ivory is also a shade of off-white, familiar from paint charts, bridal fabric and Ivory soap, sold since the nineteenth century. Some people will hear the color or the brand before the name.
- Expect a certain amount of drift toward Ivy — from teachers, from relatives, from anyone in a hurry. Fine if you like Ivy; something to weigh if you do not.
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 Ivory 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
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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
Where Amari and Ivory each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amari or Ivory — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amari or Ivory?
- Ivory, in 2025: Ivory ranked #378 with 810 babies; Amari ranked #380 with 804 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amari or Ivory?
- Ivory. Over the last five years Amari moved down 51 places; Ivory moved up 223 places.
- Which is the older name, Amari or Ivory?
- Amari entered the US charts in 1980; Ivory entered the US charts in 1886. On the American record, Ivory is the older name.
- How many people are named Amari and Ivory?
- About 21,000 people named Amari are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,500 people named Ivory are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amaris or Ivorys in the classroom?
- Amari will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ivory 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
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