Head to head · Girls' names
Anastasia vs Arya
#163 vs #158 in 2025
Arya is a whisker ahead (#158 vs #163 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Arya is stepping back from its peak, Anastasia is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Anastasia 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, Arya leads 3 measures of 6; Anastasia 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: Anastasia #522, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1890s: Anastasia #524, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1900s: Anastasia #598, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1910s: Anastasia #586, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1920s: Anastasia #733, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1930s: Anastasia #1060, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1940s: Anastasia #1366, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1950s: Anastasia #1435, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1960s: Anastasia #855, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1970s: Anastasia #658, Arya — — Anastasia higher
- 1980s: Anastasia #494, Arya #11355 — Anastasia higher
- 1990s: Anastasia #331, Arya #7811 — Anastasia higher
- 2000s: Anastasia #302, Arya #2082 — Anastasia higher
- 2010s: Anastasia #243, Arya #328 — Anastasia higher
- 2020s: Anastasia #166, Arya #136 — Arya higher
Anastasia stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Arya took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anastasia | Arya |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #522 | — |
| 1890s | #524 | — |
| 1900s | #598 | — |
| 1910s | #586 | — |
| 1920s | #733 | — |
| 1930s | #1060 | — |
| 1940s | #1366 | — |
| 1950s | #1435 | — |
| 1960s | #855 | — |
| 1970s | #658 | — |
| 1980s | #494 | #11355 |
| 1990s | #331 | #7811 |
| 2000s | #302 | #2082 |
| 2010s | #243 | #328 |
| 2020s | #166 | #136 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Anastasia
Not charting outside the US.
Arya
- France#61
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Anastasia
Resurrection; she who will rise again
From Greek anastasis, 'resurrection, a rising up' — the feminine counterpart of the man's name Anastasios.
anastasis (Greek: resurrection) → Anastasios → Anastasia → Anastasiya → Stacy
How it traveled
The name is Greek and Christian from the start: anastasis was the word for the Resurrection, and Anastasia was given to daughters as a piece of that vocabulary. It spread with the Eastern church into the Slavic world, where it became one of the great staples of Russian and Ukrainian naming, and westward into Latin Christendom, where it survived in calendars and saints' days.
Arya
Noble, honorable
From Sanskrit ārya and its Old Iranian counterpart airya, both meaning noble. The same spelling separately serves some Jewish families as a form of Hebrew Aryeh, 'lion' — one spelling, two unrelated roads.
ārya (Sanskrit) → airya (Old Iranian) → Arya (Persian, Hindi, Javanese) → Arya (English)
How it traveled
Ārya is a Sanskrit word of great age, used in the Vedic texts to mean noble or honorable, and it passed into Pali as ariya and into Old Iranian as airya — the root behind the country name Iran, 'land of the Aryas'. From Sanskrit it traveled east with Hindu and Buddhist culture into Java and Bali, where Arya has long been a common man's name, and it remains in use across India for girls and boys alike.
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
Anastasia
an-uh-STAY-zhuh
That is the usual American pronunciation. Greek, Russian and much of Europe say an-ah-stah-SEE-ah, stressing the second-to-last syllable, and plenty of families in the US use that version too.
- Ana — The most portable short form in English and Spanish alike; also stands alone as a given name.
- Stacy — A historic English clipping of Anastasia that became an independent name; strongly represented among older generations.
- Nastya — The standard everyday short form in Russian and Ukrainian, informal and used among family and friends.
- Stasia — Used in Polish and Slavic families, and by English speakers who prefer the tail of the name to the head.
- Also Tasia, Asya.
Arya
AR-ee-uh
Most American families say AR-ee-uh, with the first syllable as in 'car'; AIR-ee-uh is also heard. In Hindi and Persian it is closer to two syllables, AAR-yah. Expect to be asked at least once whether you mean Aria.
- Ari — The most common short form in English, informal, and a standalone given name in its own right for both sexes.
- Ry — Informal, family-level, mostly used by American English speakers.
Who has carried each name
Anastasia
Anastasia Nikolaevna, Grand Duchess of Russia (b. 1901) — The tsar's daughter whose rumored survival inspired decades of legend and films
Arya
No documented entry for Arya yet.
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 Anastasia if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAnastasia runs 4 syllables, Arya 3
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Ana, Stacy and Nastya
- a long American recordAnastasia was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 67% for Arya
Choose Arya if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsArya is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesArya is 3 syllables to Anastasia's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooArya is on the national lists of France
- a newer arrivalArya entered the US charts in 1986
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
Anastasia
Strengths
- A settled, documented meaning in Greek — resurrection — with no competing readings.
- Recognized across Greek, Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Italian and Spanish, with spellings close enough that it travels intact.
- Several long-established short forms, from Ana to Stacy to Nastya, so the child has real choices rather than invented ones.
To consider
- Two pronunciations coexist: an-uh-STAY-zhuh and an-ah-stah-SEE-ah. Both are correct, but she will be asked which one she uses, probably for life.
- Five syllables and nine letters. Forms, teachers and coffee cups will shorten it whether or not the family does.
- The name is closely tied to the Romanov story and the films it produced, and more recently to the heroine of the Fifty Shades novels. Neither association is overwhelming, but both are out there.
Arya
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable at first sight in English, with no silent letters and nothing to spell out twice.
- At home in South Asian, Iranian, Indonesian and English-speaking families — genuinely the same name in all of them, not a lookalike.
- A documented meaning stretching back to the Vedic texts, which is more than most names on any shortlist can offer.
To consider
- Aria is close in sound and much used, so mix-ups in both directions are likely for life. Deciding early how you say it, and saying it the same way every time, saves a lot of correcting.
- The Sanskrit root ārya was borrowed by nineteenth-century European philologists and then by Nazi racial ideology as 'Aryan'. The name itself is ancient and entirely mainstream across India and Iran, but a few people carry that echo.
- The Game of Thrones connection is strong and dates the name's wave fairly precisely. That fades as the show does, but for now some adults will mention it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Anastasia
40%chance Anastasia feels dated by 2040
Anastasia 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.
Arya
67%chance Arya feels dated by 2040
Arya is coming down from a big peak (#92 in 2019). 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 Anastasia and Arya 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 Anastasia and Arya?
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 these names appear on
- Long and elegant: names with room to breathe
- The steadiest names in America
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Nine-letter names, the long end of the chart
- all guides
Where Anastasia and Arya each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anastasia or Arya — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anastasia or Arya?
- Arya, in 2025: Arya ranked #158 with 1,858 babies; Anastasia ranked #163 with 1,832 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anastasia or Arya?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Anastasia moved down 5 places; Arya moved down 45 places.
- Which is the older name, Anastasia or Arya?
- Anastasia was already in use when US records began in 1880; Arya entered the US charts in 1986. On the American record, Anastasia is the older name.
- How many people are named Anastasia and Arya?
- About 53,000 people named Anastasia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,500 people named Arya are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Anastasias or Aryas in the classroom?
- Anastasia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Arya 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Anastasia, Arya 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