Head to head · Boys' names
Amir vs Eli
#105 vs #104 in 2025
Eli is a whisker ahead (#104 vs #105 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Eli is stepping back from its peak, Amir is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Amir 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, Eli leads 5 measures of 6; Amir 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: Amir —, Eli #184 — Eli higher
- 1890s: Amir —, Eli #249 — Eli higher
- 1900s: Amir —, Eli #289 — Eli higher
- 1910s: Amir —, Eli #321 — Eli higher
- 1920s: Amir —, Eli #375 — Eli higher
- 1930s: Amir —, Eli #454 — Eli higher
- 1940s: Amir —, Eli #555 — Eli higher
- 1950s: Amir #3666, Eli #630 — Eli higher
- 1960s: Amir #2488, Eli #668 — Eli higher
- 1970s: Amir #1105, Eli #423 — Eli higher
- 1980s: Amir #668, Eli #351 — Eli higher
- 1990s: Amir #553, Eli #312 — Eli higher
- 2000s: Amir #340, Eli #159 — Eli higher
- 2010s: Amir #199, Eli #53 — Eli higher
- 2020s: Amir #109, Eli #78 — Eli higher
Eli stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amir | Eli |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #184 |
| 1890s | — | #249 |
| 1900s | — | #289 |
| 1910s | — | #321 |
| 1920s | — | #375 |
| 1930s | — | #454 |
| 1940s | — | #555 |
| 1950s | #3666 | #630 |
| 1960s | #2488 | #668 |
| 1970s | #1105 | #423 |
| 1980s | #668 | #351 |
| 1990s | #553 | #312 |
| 2000s | #340 | #159 |
| 2010s | #199 | #53 |
| 2020s | #109 | #78 |
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
Eli
- Canada#69
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.
Eli
ascent, height — from the Hebrew root meaning 'to go up'
Worth knowing: the Hebrew phrase 'Eli, Eli' in the Gospel accounts of the crucifixion means 'my God', but that is a different Hebrew word that happens to reach English at the same spelling. The name of the priest is the one meaning 'height'.
עֵלִי (ʿEli) → Ἡλί (Hēli) → Heli → Eli
How it traveled
The name comes from the Hebrew Bible, where Eli is the priest at Shiloh who takes in the child Samuel and teaches him to answer when he is called — a story told across the opening chapters of 1 Samuel. It passed into Greek and Latin scripture as Hēli, and reached English through the great wave of Bible translation, then traveled to North America with settlers who preferred Old Testament names to saints' days.
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.
Eli
EE-lye
That is the standard American pronunciation. In Hebrew, Spanish and Portuguese the same spelling is said closer to eh-LEE, so bilingual families sometimes carry both versions comfortably.
- Eli — Most often used in full — it is already about as short as a name gets, and it also serves as the everyday short form for Elijah, Elias, Elisha, Eliezer and Elliot.
- E — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates rather than family.
- Elias / Elijah — Some families run the other direction, putting a longer biblical name on the birth certificate and using Eli in daily life.
Who has carried each name
Amir
No documented entry for Amir yet.
Eli
Eli Whitney (b. 1765) — Invented the cotton gin
Eli Manning (b. 1981) — Two-time Super Bowl MVP quarterback
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 newer arrivalAmir entered the US charts in 1954
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 76% for Eli
Choose Eli if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsEli is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordEli was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that feels very nowEli 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.
Eli
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and hard to misspell once heard — three letters that fit on any form, screen or jersey.
- Documented in scripture for millennia and in American records continuously, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
- Works both as a complete given name and as the natural short form of Elijah, Elias and Elliot, which leaves room to change your mind later.
To consider
- The EE-lye / eh-LEE split is real. Spanish- and Hebrew-speaking relatives may reach for the second one, and you will decide fairly early whether to correct people or let both stand.
- People frequently assume it is short for Elijah and ask for the longer version. If Eli is the whole name, expect that question at doctors' offices and roll calls for years.
- Another Eli in the class is unlikely, but the wider Eli- family — Elijah, Elias, Eliana — is well represented, so the sound will not be unfamiliar to anyone.
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.
Eli
76%chance Eli feels dated by 2040
Eli is coming down from a big peak (#43 in 2012). 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 Eli 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 Eli?
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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
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- all guides
Every list here names both Amir and Eli — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amir or Eli — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amir or Eli?
- Eli, in 2025: Eli ranked #104 with 3,418 babies; Amir ranked #105 with 3,297 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amir or Eli?
- Amir. Over the last five years Amir moved up 12 places; Eli moved down 44 places.
- Which is the older name, Amir or Eli?
- Amir entered the US charts in 1954; Eli was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Eli is the older name.
- How many people are named Amir and Eli?
- About 55,000 people named Amir are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 143,000 people named Eli are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amirs or Elis in the classroom?
- Amir will almost certainly be the only one in school. Eli 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
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