Head to head · Girls' names
Amelia vs Mia
#4 vs #6 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Amelia is a whisker ahead (#4 vs #6 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Amelia leads 4 measures of 6; Mia leads 1.
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: Amelia #100, Mia — — Amelia higher
- 1890s: Amelia #123, Mia — — Amelia higher
- 1900s: Amelia #154, Mia — — Amelia higher
- 1910s: Amelia #168, Mia — — Amelia higher
- 1920s: Amelia #215, Mia — — Amelia higher
- 1930s: Amelia #254, Mia #3753 — Amelia higher
- 1940s: Amelia #307, Mia #3106 — Amelia higher
- 1950s: Amelia #382, Mia #1751 — Amelia higher
- 1960s: Amelia #439, Mia #768 — Amelia higher
- 1970s: Amelia #399, Mia #451 — Amelia higher
- 1980s: Amelia #264, Mia #405 — Amelia higher
- 1990s: Amelia #218, Mia #247 — Amelia higher
- 2000s: Amelia #112, Mia #35 — Mia higher
- 2010s: Amelia #17, Mia #7 — Mia higher
- 2020s: Amelia #4, Mia #7 — Amelia higher
Amelia stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Amelia took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amelia | Mia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #100 | — |
| 1890s | #123 | — |
| 1900s | #154 | — |
| 1910s | #168 | — |
| 1920s | #215 | — |
| 1930s | #254 | #3753 |
| 1940s | #307 | #3106 |
| 1950s | #382 | #1751 |
| 1960s | #439 | #768 |
| 1970s | #399 | #451 |
| 1980s | #264 | #405 |
| 1990s | #218 | #247 |
| 2000s | #112 | #35 |
| 2010s | #17 | #7 |
| 2020s | #4 | #7 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Amelia
- England & Wales#2
- Scotland#4
- Canada#4
Mia
- Canada#7
- England & Wales#14
- France#21
- Scotland#34
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Amelia
From the Germanic element amal, 'work' or 'labor'
The one real tangle is that Amelia has been used interchangeably with the Latin Aemilia (the source of Emilia and Emily), which comes from an entirely different root. The two names have shared spellings and pronunciations for centuries, but their origins are separate.
Amal (Germanic name element) → Amalia → Amelia
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic amal, 'work', an element that appears in the name of the Amal dynasty of Ostrogothic kings and in medieval names such as Amalberga and Amalia. Amalia traveled through German-speaking Europe and reached Britain with the Hanoverians in the eighteenth century, where it settled into the English spelling Amelia.
Mia
Either a short form of Maria, or the Italian word for "mine"
The older and better-documented road is through Maria: Mia is a long-established pet form of Maria in Danish, Swedish and German, and Maria's own meaning is itself unsettled, with "beloved", "bitter" and "sea of sorrow" all proposed for the underlying Hebrew Miryam. Separately, mia is simply the Italian and Spanish word for "mine" (as in the Italian mia — feminine possessive), and plenty of families choose it for that reading. Both are real; neither cancels the other.
Miryam → Maria → Mia
How it traveled
The name reaches English through northern Europe rather than directly from Latin. Maria has been shortened to Mia in Scandinavian and German-speaking households for generations, and it was there that the short form hardened into a name given on its own, without the longer version behind it.
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
Amelia
uh-MEEL-yuh
Also said in four syllables, uh-MEE-lee-uh. Both are standard in American English and neither needs correcting; the four-syllable version is a little more common in British use.
- Millie — The most-used short form in both the US and Britain; also a given name in its own right, historically from Millicent and Mildred.
- Amy — The traditional English clipping, and long established as an independent name, which means an adult Amelia can use it formally.
- Mia — Taken from the middle of the name rather than the front; widely used on its own as a given name too.
- Lia — Informal, mostly within families; more common where the Italian and Spanish Amalia is the parent form.
- Also Mel.
Mia
MEE-uh
MEE-uh is standard everywhere the name is used. A MY-uh reading exists but belongs mainly to the separate spellings Maya and Mya, so expect occasional first-time confusion between the two families.
- Mia — Already a short form in origin, and now overwhelmingly used as the full legal name; it needs no shortening in daily use.
- Mimi — Informal, family-level; used in English, French and German households alike.
- Mia (for Maria, Amelia, Emilia) — Still works the other direction — a common everyday form for a child registered under one of the longer names.
One short form, two names
- Amelia shortens to Mia, which is also on this list.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Who has carried each name
Amelia
Amelia Earhart (b. 1897) — First woman to fly solo across the Atlantic
Amelia Bloomer (b. 1818) — Suffragist whose dress-reform trousers were nicknamed "bloomers" after her
Mia
Mia Farrow (b. 1945) — Star of Rosemary's Baby and a longtime UNICEF ambassador
Mia Hamm (b. 1972) — Two-time Olympic champion who made women's soccer a national obsession
Mia Wasikowska (b. 1989) — Played Alice in Tim Burton's Alice in Wonderland
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 Amelia if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAmelia runs 3 syllables, Mia 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Millie, Amy and Mia
- a long American recordAmelia was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Mia if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesMia is 2 syllables to Amelia's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMia is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales, France and Scotland
- a newer arrivalMia entered the US charts in 1933
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
Amelia
Strengths
- On American records since the earliest national name counts, so it has never needed reviving — the current wave is a return, not an invention.
- Three settled short forms already in general use — Millie, Amy, Mia — so a bearer can pick her own level of formality without explaining it.
- Charts independently in England and Wales, Scotland and Canada, and travels as Amélie, Amalia, Amalie and Amália across the Continent.
To consider
- It is genuinely widespread at the moment. Expect another Amelia in the year group, and expect Emilia, Amelie and Emily in the same room.
- The two names have been blurred for centuries, so she will be written down as Emilia now and then, and asked which one she is.
- Because the wave is recent, most Amelias in the US today are children and teenagers; the name will read as young for a long while yet.
Mia
Strengths
- Three letters, one obvious spelling, and a pronunciation that survives being read aloud by strangers.
- Established in Scandinavian, German, Italian and English-speaking use, so it crosses borders without being reshaped.
- Needs no nickname, but accepts Mimi if a family wants one — and doubles as the short form for Maria, Amelia or Emilia.
To consider
- It is one of the most-given girls' names in the country right now, and the wave is recent — a Mia will likely meet other Mias in school rather than among adults.
- The sound sits close to Mila, Mira, Maya and Mya, and the -ia ending puts it in a very crowded neighborhood, so mishearings are more likely than misspellings.
- Because the name is short and widely shared, an internet search on it alone returns bearers from very different fields, adult-film performers among them.
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 Amelia and Mia 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 Amelia and Mia?
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 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 that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- all guides
Every list here names both Amelia and Mia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amelia or Mia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amelia or Mia?
- Amelia, in 2025: Amelia ranked #4 with 12,699 babies; Mia ranked #6 with 11,078 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amelia or Mia?
- Neither has pulled away: over the last five years Amelia moved up 2 places and Mia moved up 2 places.
- Which is the older name, Amelia or Mia?
- Amelia was already in use when US records began in 1880; Mia entered the US charts in 1933. On the American record, Amelia is the older name.
- How many people are named Amelia and Mia?
- About 244,000 people named Amelia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 307,000 people named Mia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Amelia and Mia share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Mia, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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 Amelia, Mia and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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