Head to head · Boys' names
Amir vs Dominic
#105 vs #106 in 2025
Amir is a whisker ahead (#105 vs #106 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Amir is holding its place on the charts, Dominic 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
The tape is even: Amir and Dominic each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Amir —, Dominic #910 — Dominic higher
- 1890s: Amir —, Dominic #727 — Dominic higher
- 1900s: Amir —, Dominic #431 — Dominic higher
- 1910s: Amir —, Dominic #237 — Dominic higher
- 1920s: Amir —, Dominic #255 — Dominic higher
- 1930s: Amir —, Dominic #328 — Dominic higher
- 1940s: Amir —, Dominic #380 — Dominic higher
- 1950s: Amir #3666, Dominic #377 — Dominic higher
- 1960s: Amir #2488, Dominic #345 — Dominic higher
- 1970s: Amir #1105, Dominic #272 — Dominic higher
- 1980s: Amir #668, Dominic #206 — Dominic higher
- 1990s: Amir #553, Dominic #139 — Dominic higher
- 2000s: Amir #340, Dominic #91 — Dominic higher
- 2010s: Amir #199, Dominic #73 — Dominic higher
- 2020s: Amir #109, Dominic #102 — Dominic higher
Dominic stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amir | Dominic |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #910 |
| 1890s | — | #727 |
| 1900s | — | #431 |
| 1910s | — | #237 |
| 1920s | — | #255 |
| 1930s | — | #328 |
| 1940s | — | #380 |
| 1950s | #3666 | #377 |
| 1960s | #2488 | #345 |
| 1970s | #1105 | #272 |
| 1980s | #668 | #206 |
| 1990s | #553 | #139 |
| 2000s | #340 | #91 |
| 2010s | #199 | #73 |
| 2020s | #109 | #102 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Amir
- France#56
Dominic
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Amir
prince, commander (Arabic)
The Arabic amīr comes from a root meaning to command or to order. A separate Hebrew name spelled the same way, Amir, means the crown or top of a tree, and also a sheaf of cut grain — so the same four letters reach children by two unrelated roads, depending on the family.
amīr (Arabic: one who commands) → Amīr → Emir (Turkish) → Amir
How it traveled
The Arabic amīr began as a word for one who commands, and it became a formal title across the Islamic world — most famously in amīr al-muʼminīn, commander of the faithful, borne by caliphs from the seventh century onward. " Independently, Hebrew has its own Amir, a nature word for the top of a tree, in use as a modern given name in Israel.
Dominic
of the Lord; belonging to the Lord
Latin dominicus is a plain adjective from dominus, lord or master of the household. The Sunday connection is not a second meaning but the same one applied: dies dominica, the Lord's day. That puts Dominic in a small class of names that fix a day rather than a quality — Natalie for Christmas, Pascal for Easter, Dominic for Sunday. Nothing here is contested.
dominus → Dominicus → Dominic
How it traveled
The name belongs to the medieval church before it belongs to anyone else. Dominic of Caleruega, a Castilian priest of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries, founded the Order of Preachers, and his friars carried both the order and the name across Europe — which is why every Catholic language has a version of it and why the black-and-white habit is still called Dominican.
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
Amir
ah-MEER
The stress falls on the second syllable in Arabic, Hebrew and Persian alike. In American English you will also hear uh-MEER, and occasionally a front-stressed AH-mir from people guessing at the spelling — worth saying it aloud once at introductions.
- Ami — Informal short form used within families; also stands alone as a given name in Hebrew and in several European languages.
- Mir — Clipped informal form, more common among friends and siblings than in adult use.
Dominic
DOM-uh-nick
Three syllables, stress at the front, the middle vowel reduced almost to nothing: DOM-uh-nick. Spanish and Italian move the weight and change the vowels but not the shape, so the name survives translation without becoming unrecognizable.
- Dom — The default, and the one most Dominics answer to by the second week of school.
- Nic — The back half, useful when a Dom is already in the room; spelled Nic or Nick depending on the household.
- Dommie — A family softening, used at home and seldom carried outside it.
- Mingo — Belongs to Domingo rather than Dominic, but moves between the two in Spanish-speaking families.
Who has carried each name
Amir
No documented entry for Amir yet.
Dominic
Dominic Thiem (b. 1993) — US Open tennis champion
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 Amir if you want…
- a name on the way upup 12 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAmir is 2 syllables to Dominic's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAmir is on the national lists of France
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 71% for Dominic
Choose Dominic if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsDominic is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itDominic runs 3 syllables, Amir 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Dom, Nic and Dommie
- a name that feels very nowDominic is stepping back from its peak
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
Amir
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable at first sight for most English speakers, with no silent letters to explain.
- Works as a native name across Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Malay, Bosnian and Hebrew-speaking communities.
- Also charts in France, so it travels without becoming a foreign object.
To consider
- Ameer, Amer and the Turkish Emir are all in circulation, and Amari and Amira are close neighbors in sound — expect to spell it aloud and to correct the occasional wrong form.
- The meaning is a live word, not a faded one: Arabic speakers hear "prince" or "commander" straight away, which some families love and others find a lot to carry.
- Because two separate names — Arabic and Hebrew — meet at this spelling, people will sometimes assume a background your family may not have. A one-line answer usually settles it.
Dominic
Strengths
- Every major European language already has this name, so it crosses a border without being translated or explained.
- Dom is a complete working name rather than a clipping that needs the long form standing behind it.
- It is said the way it is written, in any accent, and has been for eight centuries.
To consider
- Dominic and Dominick both look right, so the spelling will be asked for and then sometimes ignored anyway.
- The origin is unmistakably Catholic. For some families that is the point; for others it is a history they are not part of and would rather not imply.
- Dom carries other freight in English — dominant, dominate — and a child who tires of it has Nic waiting.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Amir
40%chance Amir feels dated by 2040
Amir 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.
Dominic
71%chance Dominic feels dated by 2040
Dominic is coming down from a big peak (#68 in 2013). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Amir and Dominic 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 Amir and Dominic?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists that carry both names
Every list here names both Amir and Dominic — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amir or Dominic — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amir or Dominic?
- Amir, in 2025: Amir ranked #105 with 3,297 babies; Dominic ranked #106 with 3,277 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amir or Dominic?
- Amir. Over the last five years Amir moved up 12 places; Dominic moved down 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Amir or Dominic?
- Amir entered the US charts in 1954; Dominic entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Dominic is the older name.
- How many people are named Amir and Dominic?
- About 55,000 people named Amir are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 176,000 people named Dominic are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amirs or Dominics in the classroom?
- Amir will almost certainly be the only one in school. Dominic 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
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