Head to head · Boys' names
Amir vs Vincent
#105 vs #107 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Amir is a whisker ahead (#105 vs #107 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Vincent leads 4 measures of 6; Amir 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: Amir —, Vincent #241 — Vincent higher
- 1890s: Amir —, Vincent #157 — Vincent higher
- 1900s: Amir —, Vincent #114 — Vincent higher
- 1910s: Amir —, Vincent #72 — Vincent higher
- 1920s: Amir —, Vincent #75 — Vincent higher
- 1930s: Amir —, Vincent #100 — Vincent higher
- 1940s: Amir —, Vincent #106 — Vincent higher
- 1950s: Amir #3666, Vincent #100 — Vincent higher
- 1960s: Amir #2488, Vincent #71 — Vincent higher
- 1970s: Amir #1105, Vincent #102 — Vincent higher
- 1980s: Amir #668, Vincent #96 — Vincent higher
- 1990s: Amir #553, Vincent #104 — Vincent higher
- 2000s: Amir #340, Vincent #117 — Vincent higher
- 2010s: Amir #199, Vincent #106 — Vincent higher
- 2020s: Amir #109, Vincent #117 — Amir higher
Vincent stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Amir took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Amir | Vincent |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #241 |
| 1890s | — | #157 |
| 1900s | — | #114 |
| 1910s | — | #72 |
| 1920s | — | #75 |
| 1930s | — | #100 |
| 1940s | — | #106 |
| 1950s | #3666 | #100 |
| 1960s | #2488 | #71 |
| 1970s | #1105 | #102 |
| 1980s | #668 | #96 |
| 1990s | #553 | #104 |
| 2000s | #340 | #117 |
| 2010s | #199 | #106 |
| 2020s | #109 | #117 |
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
Vincent
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.
Vincent
conquering
Vincentius is built on vincens, from vincere, to conquer or prevail — the same verb behind Victor, Victoria, convince and evince. The participial form matters: Victor names someone who has won, Vincent names the winning as it happens. Early Christians liked the name for exactly that reason, applying it to endurance under persecution rather than to battle. The derivation is not disputed anywhere.
vincens → Vincentius → Vincent
How it traveled
The name belonged first to a deacon of Saragossa martyred in the early fourth century, whose cult spread across Spain, Portugal and France and made the name ordinary in all three. It gained a second life through a seventeenth-century French priest who organized charity on a scale nobody had attempted before, and whose name is still on hospitals and thrift shops across the world.
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.
Vincent
VIN-sunt
VIN-sunt, two syllables, stress at the front, the second vowel reduced. French says van-SAHN with the weight at the back and a nasal ending. Italian gives four syllables to Vincenzo. The English reading has been stable for centuries.
- Vince — The front clipped to one syllable, and a complete working name; what most Vincents go by.
- Vinny — The front softened, strongly associated with Italian-American use, and warmly meant almost everywhere it is said.
- Cent — The back syllable alone, rare and used mostly within a family.
- Enzo — Taken from the end of the Italian Vincenzo, and now a standing name in its own right.
Who has carried each name
Amir
No documented entry for Amir yet.
Vincent
Vincent van Gogh (b. 1853) — Sold one painting in his lifetime; now his works go for hundreds of millions
Vincent Price (b. 1911) — Horror's velvet-voiced icon
Vincent de Paul (b. 1581) — The saint of charity
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 that charts abroad tooAmir is on the national lists of France
- a newer arrivalAmir entered the US charts in 1954
- a name that feels very nowAmir is holding its place on the charts
Choose Vincent if you want…
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Vince, Vinny and Cent
- a long American recordVincent was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Amir
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.
Vincent
Strengths
- It has been in continuous use in English for many centuries without ever belonging to one period.
- Vince and Vinny are both complete working names, and they sit at opposite ends of formality.
- Every Catholic language has a version, so it crosses a border without translation.
To consider
- It is strongly associated with Catholic and particularly Italian-American families, which for some is the point and for others is a history they are not part of.
- Vinny arrives whether or not it is wanted, and it carries a set of screen associations that are hard to shake.
- The painter is the first thing many people think of, and his story is not a cheerful one.
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.
Vincent
12%chance Vincent feels dated by 2040
Vincent has held the top-100 across 6 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 Amir and Vincent 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
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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 Vincent — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Amir or Vincent — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Amir or Vincent?
- Amir, in 2025: Amir ranked #105 with 3,297 babies; Vincent ranked #107 with 3,267 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Amir or Vincent?
- Vincent. Over the last five years Amir moved up 12 places; Vincent moved up 14 places.
- Which is the older name, Amir or Vincent?
- Amir entered the US charts in 1954; Vincent was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Vincent is the older name.
- How many people are named Amir and Vincent?
- About 55,000 people named Amir are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 263,000 people named Vincent are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Amirs or Vincents in the classroom?
- Amir will almost certainly be the only one in school. Vincent 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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