Head to head · Boys' names
Anakin vs Uriah
#648 vs #648 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Anakin and Uriah share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#648). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Uriah leads 3 measures of 6; Anakin 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: Anakin —, Uriah #785 — Uriah higher
- 1890s: Anakin —, Uriah #862 — Uriah higher
- 1910s: Anakin —, Uriah #2076 — Uriah higher
- 1920s: Anakin —, Uriah #2788 — Uriah higher
- 1930s: Anakin —, Uriah #2843 — Uriah higher
- 1940s: Anakin —, Uriah #3037 — Uriah higher
- 1950s: Anakin —, Uriah #3446 — Uriah higher
- 1960s: Anakin —, Uriah #3970 — Uriah higher
- 1970s: Anakin —, Uriah #1459 — Uriah higher
- 1980s: Anakin —, Uriah #1014 — Uriah higher
- 1990s: Anakin #5091, Uriah #1123 — Uriah higher
- 2000s: Anakin #1576, Uriah #1035 — Uriah higher
- 2010s: Anakin #1096, Uriah #560 — Uriah higher
- 2020s: Anakin #622, Uriah #669 — Anakin higher
Uriah stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Anakin took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anakin | Uriah |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #785 |
| 1890s | — | #862 |
| 1910s | — | #2076 |
| 1920s | — | #2788 |
| 1930s | — | #2843 |
| 1940s | — | #3037 |
| 1950s | — | #3446 |
| 1960s | — | #3970 |
| 1970s | — | #1459 |
| 1980s | — | #1014 |
| 1990s | #5091 | #1123 |
| 2000s | #1576 | #1035 |
| 2010s | #1096 | #560 |
| 2020s | #622 | #669 |
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
Anakin
Not established
Anakin was coined for fiction, not inherited from a language, so it has no translation to give. What is documented is its author and its date: George Lucas wrote it into Star Wars, first heard on screen in 1977, and the films themselves never offer a meaning for it.
How it traveled
The name belongs to George Lucas, who put it in the mouth of Obi-Wan Kenobi in 1977 and left it unexplained for two decades. When the prequel trilogy opened in 1999 with The Phantom Menace, Anakin became a nine-year-old boy on a desert planet, and the name moved from a line of dialogue to a character parents had watched grow up.
Uriah
the LORD is my light
From Hebrew Uriyyah: uri, "my light" or "my flame", joined to Yah, the shortened divine name. Some translators render the first element as "flame" rather than "light", but the two readings sit close together rather than competing.
Uriyyah (Hebrew) → Ourias (Greek) → Urias (Latin) → Uriah (English)
How it traveled
The name is Hebrew, built from a word for light and a short form of the divine name, and it appears in the Hebrew Bible for several men, most memorably Uriah the Hittite, the husband of Bathsheba. Greek translators wrote it Ourias, Latin Urias, and English Bibles settled on Uriah, which is the form that has stuck for four centuries.
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
Anakin
AN-uh-kin
First syllable like the word "an", stress on it, and the ending rhymes with "kin". The films fixed this pronunciation for English speakers, so it rarely needs explaining twice.
- Ani — The short form used inside the films by the character's mother and by Padmé; the one most people reach for first, and it doubles as an affectionate family form.
- Kin — A one-syllable clip from the end of the name, used informally.
Uriah
yoo-RY-uh
Three syllables, stress in the middle. In Hebrew the name runs oo-ree-YAH, with the weight at the end — worth knowing if the family uses both.
- Uri — The usual short form in English, and a full given name in its own right in Hebrew.
- Ry — Informal, drawn from the stressed middle syllable; used among friends rather than on paperwork.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Anakin if you want…
- a name on the way upup 54 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalAnakin entered the US charts in 1995
Choose Uriah if you want…
- a name holding steadyUriah is holding its place on the charts
- a long American recordUriah was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Anakin
Strengths
- Almost everyone can spell it on first hearing, which is unusual for a name this uncommon — the films did the teaching.
- One settled pronunciation across English, with no regional variants to correct.
- A ready-made short form, Ani, already used affectionately within the story the name comes from.
To consider
- The name is tied to one character and no one else, and that character's story is his fall — he becomes Darth Vader. Anyone who knows the films knows the whole arc, and some will say so out loud.
- Ani is pronounced AH-nee in the films, which sounds like Annie and can lead to a gender mix-up over the phone or on a roster.
- Because it comes from a single source, expect the same conversation about it fairly often, at school and later on job applications. Some families find that easy; it is worth picturing in advance.
Uriah
Strengths
- A biblical name with an unbroken written record from the Hebrew scriptures through Greek and Latin into English, so its spelling and meaning are documented rather than guessed at.
- Uri is a ready-made short form that also stands alone as a given name in Hebrew.
- Recognizable across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and Hebrew-speaking families, since every Bible translation carries a version of it.
To consider
- Dickens gave the name to Uriah Heep, the cringing hypocrite of David Copperfield (1850), and the English rock band that took his name kept the reference alive. Readers of a literary bent may make the connection; many people will not.
- In the Bible, Uriah the Hittite is the loyal soldier King David has killed. It is a sympathetic role, but a tragic one, and some families weigh that.
- Expect to correct the pronunciation now and then — yoo-RY-uh rather than OO-ree-ah — and to be asked whether it is spelled like Uriel or Isaiah.
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 Anakin and Uriah 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 Anakin and Uriah?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Anakin and Uriah — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anakin or Uriah — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anakin or Uriah?
- They tie in 2025: Anakin ranked #648 with 427 babies; Uriah ranked #648 with 427 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anakin or Uriah?
- Anakin. Over the last five years Anakin moved up 54 places; Uriah moved down 13 places.
- Which is the older name, Anakin or Uriah?
- Anakin entered the US charts in 1995; Uriah was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Uriah is the older name.
- How many people are named Anakin and Uriah?
- About 5,800 people named Anakin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,500 people named Uriah are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Anakins or Uriahs in the classroom?
- Anakin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Uriah will almost certainly be the only one in school.
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 Anakin, Uriah and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap