Head to head · Girls' names
Ana vs Diana
#245 vs #244 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Diana is a whisker ahead (#244 vs #245 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, Diana leads 5 measures of 6; Ana leads 0.
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: Ana #756, Diana #656 — Diana higher
- 1890s: Ana #971, Diana #633 — Diana higher
- 1900s: Ana #996, Diana #597 — Diana higher
- 1910s: Ana #1052, Diana #507 — Diana higher
- 1920s: Ana #874, Diana #385 — Diana higher
- 1930s: Ana #794, Diana #206 — Diana higher
- 1940s: Ana #704, Diana #64 — Diana higher
- 1950s: Ana #459, Diana #51 — Diana higher
- 1960s: Ana #331, Diana #64 — Diana higher
- 1970s: Ana #234, Diana #94 — Diana higher
- 1980s: Ana #180, Diana #80 — Diana higher
- 1990s: Ana #137, Diana #99 — Diana higher
- 2000s: Ana #147, Diana #115 — Diana higher
- 2010s: Ana #219, Diana #241 — Ana higher
- 2020s: Ana #226, Diana #236 — Ana higher
Diana stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Ana has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ana | Diana |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #756 | #656 |
| 1890s | #971 | #633 |
| 1900s | #996 | #597 |
| 1910s | #1052 | #507 |
| 1920s | #874 | #385 |
| 1930s | #794 | #206 |
| 1940s | #704 | #64 |
| 1950s | #459 | #51 |
| 1960s | #331 | #64 |
| 1970s | #234 | #94 |
| 1980s | #180 | #80 |
| 1990s | #137 | #99 |
| 2000s | #147 | #115 |
| 2010s | #219 | #241 |
| 2020s | #226 | #236 |
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
Ana
Grace
From Hebrew Hannah, 'grace, favor', through Greek and Latin Anna.
Hannah → Anna → Ana
How it traveled
Ana de Mendoza, Princess of Eboli, lost an eye as a girl and wore a patch; she became one of the most powerful figures at the court of Philip II of Spain until, in 1579, he had her arrested over a political intrigue, and she spent the rest of her life confined in her palace at Pastrana. In Angola, Nzinga of Ndongo and Matamba negotiated with the Portuguese, was baptized as Ana de Sousa, and then fought them for decades to keep her kingdoms free.
Diana
Bright, of the daylight
Built on the same ancient root as the Latin word for a day and the first part of the name Jupiter, with an underlying sense of brightness or the open sky. The association with the moon and with hunting came later and from Greek influence; the oldest layer of the name is about daylight rather than moonlight, which is the opposite of what most people are told.
Diana
How it traveled
The Aventine temple was outside the old religious boundary of the city, which mattered: it was where the people who were not fully inside Roman life went. Her festival fell in the middle of August and was kept as a day off for slaves, who could not be made to work and who washed their hair for it; the sanctuary offered refuge to anyone who reached 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
Ana
AH-nuh
Two syllables with the stress on the first; some English speakers say AN-uh.
- Anita — The Spanish pet form.
- Annie — The English pet form.
Diana
die-AN-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle in English. Spanish and Italian say dee-AH-nah, with a long first vowel, and French drops the last syllable altogether. All three are the same name and all three are current in the United States.
- Di — The first syllable alone; short, and the form most Dianas are actually called.
- Annie — Taken from the middle and softened, which disguises the name completely.
- Dee — The first sound only; unisex, and shared with a great many other names.
- Dina — The name compressed to two syllables, which makes a separate name in several languages.
One short form, two names
- Ana and Diana both shorten to Annie.
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
Ana
Ana de Armas (b. 1988) — Knives Out and Blonde star
Ana Ivanovic (b. 1987) — French Open champion
Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961) — The "People's Princess"
Diana Ross (b. 1944) — Motown legend who fronted The Supremes
Diana Taurasi (b. 1982) — The WNBA's all-time scoring leader
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 Ana if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAna is 2 syllables to Diana's 3
Choose Diana if you want…
- a name with more sound in itDiana runs 3 syllables, Ana 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Di, Annie and Dee
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
Ana
Strengths
- Short, simple and used across many languages.
- A settled, lovely meaning.
- A long American history.
To consider
- People will write Anna.
- The pronunciation varies between AH-nuh and AN-uh.
- It is common enough that an Ana may share her name at school.
Diana
Strengths
- It is spelled identically in Spanish, Italian, Russian and Romanian, and needs no adjustment anywhere.
- The name has been in continuous English use for centuries without ever sounding old-fashioned.
- Several short forms in different registers, from the brisk Di to the entirely disguised Annie.
To consider
- The name is on record for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite the absolute signal people assume.
- One twentieth-century bearer is famous enough that the name carries her story for a whole generation.
- Two live pronunciations exist in America, one English and one Spanish, and families with both will have to choose.
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 Ana and Diana 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 Ana and Diana?
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
Every list here names both Ana and Diana — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ana or Diana — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ana or Diana?
- Diana, in 2025: Diana ranked #244 with 1,277 babies; Ana ranked #245 with 1,276 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ana or Diana?
- Diana. Over the last five years Ana moved down 1 place; Diana moved up 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Ana or Diana?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Ana and Diana?
- About 106,000 people named Ana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 314,000 people named Diana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Ana and Diana share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Annie, 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. 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 Ana, Diana and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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