Head to head · Girls' names
Amaya vs Annie
#180 vs #182 in 2025
Amaya is a whisker ahead (#180 vs #182 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Amaya is stepping back from its peak, Annie is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Annie 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, Annie leads 4 measures of 6; Amaya 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: Amaya —, Annie #11 — Annie higher
- 1890s: Amaya —, Annie #17 — Annie higher
- 1900s: Amaya —, Annie #17 — Annie higher
- 1910s: Amaya —, Annie #31 — Annie higher
- 1920s: Amaya —, Annie #34 — Annie higher
- 1930s: Amaya —, Annie #43 — Annie higher
- 1940s: Amaya —, Annie #79 — Annie higher
- 1950s: Amaya —, Annie #157 — Annie higher
- 1960s: Amaya —, Annie #299 — Annie higher
- 1970s: Amaya #7840, Annie #398 — Annie higher
- 1980s: Amaya #6714, Annie #303 — Annie higher
- 1990s: Amaya #3612, Annie #325 — Annie higher
- 2000s: Amaya #221, Annie #362 — Amaya higher
- 2010s: Amaya #197, Annie #333 — Amaya higher
- 2020s: Amaya #163, Annie #217 — Amaya higher
Annie stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Amaya has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amaya | Annie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #11 |
| 1890s | — | #17 |
| 1900s | — | #17 |
| 1910s | — | #31 |
| 1920s | — | #34 |
| 1930s | — | #43 |
| 1940s | — | #79 |
| 1950s | — | #157 |
| 1960s | — | #299 |
| 1970s | #7840 | #398 |
| 1980s | #6714 | #303 |
| 1990s | #3612 | #325 |
| 2000s | #221 | #362 |
| 2010s | #197 | #333 |
| 2020s | #163 | #217 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Amaya
Not charting outside the US.
Annie
- Scotland#94
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Amaya
Either "the end" in Basque, or the Castilian place name Amaya
Two serious readings compete. In Basque, amaia means "the end," and Amaia is a well-established given name there. Separately, Amaya is the name of Peña Amaya, a hill and ancient stronghold in the province of Burgos, whose own name is pre-Roman and has never been convincingly translated. A Japanese surname romanized as Amaya also exists, written with several different character combinations, so no single meaning attaches to it either.
Amaya (hill and stronghold, Burgos) → Amaya (Castilian surname) → Amaia (Basque given name) → Amaya (given name)
How it traveled
Peña Amaya, a high rocky outcrop in northern Burgos, was a Cantabrian stronghold before Rome took the region, and later a seat under the Visigoths; the surname Amaya spread from that place through Castile and, in time, across the Spanish-speaking world. The name's life as a girl's given name owes much to the Basque Country, where Amaia became current after the nineteenth-century Spanish novelist Francisco Navarro Villoslada published his historical novel Amaya, set in the eighth century.
Annie
favor, grace
The Hebrew name behind it means favor or grace, and the chain from that to this form runs through Greek and Latin and French. The sense passes through unchanged at every stage.
Hannah → Anne → Annie
How it traveled
The woman at the far end of that chain does something in the text that nobody else does. She goes to the sanctuary, childless and desperate, and prays — silently, moving her lips without sound, which was unusual enough that the priest watching assumes she is drunk and tells her to go and sober up.
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
Amaya
uh-MY-uh
That is the usual American reading. In Spanish and Basque it is ah-MAH-ya, with a fuller first vowel and the y as in "yes." Both are correct for their setting, and bilingual families often use each in its own language.
- Maya — The most common short form in English, and a widely used given name in its own right, which can blur the two.
- Aya — Informal, drawn from the last two syllables; also a standalone given name in Japanese and Arabic.
- Ama — Family-level shortening, mostly used by parents and siblings rather than outside the house.
- Amy — An English-sounding reduction some bearers adopt at school or work; unrelated in origin to Amaya.
Annie
ANN-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is entirely unambiguous and nobody has ever needed to be told how to say it.
- Ann — The name without its ending; a complete name in its own right.
- Nan — An old rebracketed form; warm and now rather rare.
Who has carried each name
Amaya
No documented entry for Amaya yet.
Annie
Annie Oakley (b. 1860) — Sharpshooting star of the Wild West shows
Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949) — Era-defining celebrity photographer
Annie Jump Cannon (b. 1863) — Astronomer who classified hundreds of thousands of stars
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 Amaya if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAmaya is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAmaya runs 3 syllables, Annie 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Maya, Aya and Ama
- a newer arrivalAmaya entered the US charts in 1972
Choose Annie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 107 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAnnie is 2 syllables to Amaya's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAnnie is on the national lists of Scotland
- a long American recordAnnie 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
Amaya
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English speakers — no silent letters, no ambiguous consonants.
- Works in both English and Spanish without changing spelling, which matters in bilingual households.
- Comes with ready-made short forms, Maya above all, so a child has options without inventing one.
To consider
- Two pronunciations coexist: uh-MY-uh in most English-speaking settings, ah-MAH-ya in Spanish and Basque. Families that speak both will hear their child's name said two ways, which is manageable but worth deciding on early.
- It sits in a crowded spelling neighborhood — Amaia, Amayah, Amiyah, Amara, Amira — so expect to spell it aloud fairly often, even to people who already know how to say it.
- The best-known Basque reading is "the end," which some relatives will find striking and some will ask about. The Castilian place-name origin is the other honest answer.
Annie
Strengths
- It is short, warm and instantly familiar in every English-speaking country.
- It is currently returning after a long absence, so it reads as neither dated nor new.
- The meaning is simple, positive and easy to explain.
To consider
- It reads as a short form to some people even when it is the legal name.
- A musical and a comic strip both carry the name prominently.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Amaya
40%chance Amaya feels dated by 2040
Amaya sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Annie
12%chance Annie feels dated by 2040
Annie has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Amaya and Annie 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 Amaya and Annie?
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
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Southern charm: names the South loves best
- all guides
Where Amaya and Annie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amaya or Annie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amaya or Annie?
- Amaya, in 2025: Amaya ranked #180 with 1,723 babies; Annie ranked #182 with 1,690 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amaya or Annie?
- Annie. Over the last five years Amaya moved down 41 places; Annie moved up 107 places.
- Which is the older name, Amaya or Annie?
- Amaya entered the US charts in 1972; Annie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Annie is the older name.
- How many people are named Amaya and Annie?
- About 43,000 people named Amaya are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 116,000 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amayas or Annies in the classroom?
- Amaya will almost certainly be the only one in school. Annie 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Amaya, Annie 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