Head to head · Girls' names
Amaya vs Daphne
#180 vs #178 in 2025
Daphne is a whisker ahead (#178 vs #180 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Daphne is climbing the charts fast, Amaya is stepping back from its peak.
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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, Daphne 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 —, Daphne #1052 — Daphne higher
- 1890s: Amaya —, Daphne #866 — Daphne higher
- 1900s: Amaya —, Daphne #945 — Daphne higher
- 1910s: Amaya —, Daphne #907 — Daphne higher
- 1920s: Amaya —, Daphne #705 — Daphne higher
- 1930s: Amaya —, Daphne #791 — Daphne higher
- 1940s: Amaya —, Daphne #683 — Daphne higher
- 1950s: Amaya —, Daphne #543 — Daphne higher
- 1960s: Amaya —, Daphne #366 — Daphne higher
- 1970s: Amaya #7840, Daphne #448 — Daphne higher
- 1980s: Amaya #6714, Daphne #678 — Daphne higher
- 1990s: Amaya #3612, Daphne #819 — Daphne higher
- 2000s: Amaya #221, Daphne #562 — Amaya higher
- 2010s: Amaya #197, Daphne #410 — Amaya higher
- 2020s: Amaya #163, Daphne #266 — Amaya higher
Daphne stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Amaya has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amaya | Daphne |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1052 |
| 1890s | — | #866 |
| 1900s | — | #945 |
| 1910s | — | #907 |
| 1920s | — | #705 |
| 1930s | — | #791 |
| 1940s | — | #683 |
| 1950s | — | #543 |
| 1960s | — | #366 |
| 1970s | #7840 | #448 |
| 1980s | #6714 | #678 |
| 1990s | #3612 | #819 |
| 2000s | #221 | #562 |
| 2010s | #197 | #410 |
| 2020s | #163 | #266 |
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
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.
Daphne
Laurel, bay tree
Daphne is simply the Greek noun for the laurel. The laurel wreath was the Greek and Roman crown of victors and poets, which is why the word traveled so widely.
δάφνη (Greek: laurel) → Δάφνη (Daphne) → Daphne (Latin) → Daphne (English)
How it traveled
The name is the Greek word δάφνη, laurel. In Greek myth Daphne was a nymph pursued by Apollo who was turned into a laurel tree to escape him — the version most people know is the one Ovid told in Latin verse around the turn of the first century, and the laurel became Apollo's own tree.
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.
Daphne
DAF-nee
Stress on the first syllable; ph is f. The final e is spoken, not silent — people who read it as a silent English -e sometimes try DAFN before hearing it aloud.
- Daph — The standard informal clip within families and among friends; rarely written down.
- Daffy — An affectionate childhood form, used more by relatives than by peers.
- Dee — A generic initial-based short form, easy to reach for in casual speech.
- Dafi — Used in some European settings, closer to the Continental spellings.
Who has carried each name
Amaya
No documented entry for Amaya yet.
Daphne
Daphne du Maurier (b. 1907) — Wrote Rebecca and The Birds
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, Daphne 2
Choose Daphne if you want…
- a name on the way upup 236 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesDaphne is 2 syllables to Amaya'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
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.
Daphne
Strengths
- One dominant spelling in English, and it is the ancient one — no family debate over how to write it.
- Recognizable across Greek, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch with barely a change of letters.
- A documented history stretching from ancient Greek to today, without a gap in use.
To consider
- The final -e catches English readers who expect it to be silent, so expect a small share of first-attempt DAFNs, usually corrected once.
- Daffy Duck is the obvious playground joke on the diminutive. It has been available for generations and has not sunk the name, but it is there.
- The myth behind the name is a story of pursuit and escape, and not every parent wants that as the footnote. The word itself just means laurel.
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.
Daphne
59%chance Daphne feels dated by 2040
Daphne 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.
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 Daphne in full.
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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
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Six-letter names in current use
- Goddess and muse names
- all guides
Where Amaya and Daphne each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amaya or Daphne — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amaya or Daphne?
- Daphne, in 2025: Daphne ranked #178 with 1,740 babies; Amaya ranked #180 with 1,723 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amaya or Daphne?
- Daphne. Over the last five years Amaya moved down 41 places; Daphne moved up 236 places.
- Which is the older name, Amaya or Daphne?
- Amaya entered the US charts in 1972; Daphne entered the US charts in 1886. On the American record, Daphne is the older name.
- How many people are named Amaya and Daphne?
- About 43,000 people named Amaya are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 39,500 people named Daphne are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amayas or Daphnes in the classroom?
- Amaya will almost certainly be the only one in school. Daphne 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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