Head to head · Boys' names
Anderson vs Andre
#363 vs #368 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Anderson is a whisker ahead (#363 vs #368 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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
The tape is even: Anderson and Andre each lead 2 measures of 6.
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: Anderson #254, Andre #809 — Anderson higher
- 1890s: Anderson #279, Andre #991 — Anderson higher
- 1900s: Anderson #325, Andre #943 — Anderson higher
- 1910s: Anderson #458, Andre #1240 — Anderson higher
- 1920s: Anderson #528, Andre #921 — Anderson higher
- 1930s: Anderson #594, Andre #656 — Anderson higher
- 1940s: Anderson #628, Andre #491 — Andre higher
- 1950s: Anderson #714, Andre #284 — Andre higher
- 1960s: Anderson #871, Andre #166 — Andre higher
- 1970s: Anderson #969, Andre #131 — Andre higher
- 1980s: Anderson #971, Andre #130 — Andre higher
- 1990s: Anderson #837, Andre #161 — Andre higher
- 2000s: Anderson #526, Andre #209 — Andre higher
- 2010s: Anderson #301, Andre #263 — Andre higher
- 2020s: Anderson #337, Andre #316 — Andre higher
Andre stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Andre has held the lead since the 1940s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anderson | Andre |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #254 | #809 |
| 1890s | #279 | #991 |
| 1900s | #325 | #943 |
| 1910s | #458 | #1240 |
| 1920s | #528 | #921 |
| 1930s | #594 | #656 |
| 1940s | #628 | #491 |
| 1950s | #714 | #284 |
| 1960s | #871 | #166 |
| 1970s | #969 | #131 |
| 1980s | #971 | #130 |
| 1990s | #837 | #161 |
| 2000s | #526 | #209 |
| 2010s | #301 | #263 |
| 2020s | #337 | #316 |
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
Anderson
son of Anders (Andrew) — ultimately from Greek 'man'
Anders is the Scandinavian form of Andreas, which comes from Greek anēr, andros, 'man'. The -son is the plain patronymic ending shared with Johnson, Jackson and Robertson.
Andreas → Andrew → Anders → Anderson
How it traveled
Andrew, the apostle, became the patron saint of Scotland, and his name spread through Scotland and Scandinavia so widely that patronymics built on it turned into permanent surnames: Anderson in Scotland and northern England, Andersson in Sweden, Andersen in Denmark and Norway. Scots and Scandinavian emigration carried all three spellings to North America in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, where Anderson became one of the most frequently borne surnames in the country.
Andre
of a man; manly
Greek, built on the word for a man in the sense of an adult male rather than a person. The name belonged to a fisherman from Galilee whose Greek name in a Jewish family is itself worth noticing.
Andreas → André → Andre
How it traveled
The Orthodox churches give him a title the western church does not use: the First-Called. The gospel account has him following first and then going to fetch his brother, which makes the more famous of the two a second arrival, and the eastern tradition has never let that detail go.
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
Anderson
AN-der-sun
Three syllables, stress on the first. The middle syllable often flattens in fast American speech to something closer to AN-dur-sun. No competing pronunciations to explain to anyone.
- Andy — The everyday informal short form; also given on its own, and long attached to Andrew, so it may prompt the question of which name it stands for.
- Anders — A full given name in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, and a clean semi-formal clipping in English.
- Ander — A shorter clipping; also a Basque given name in its own right.
- Sonny — Informal, family-level, drawn from the final syllable rather than from any tradition.
Andre
AHN-dray
Two syllables. French puts the weight at the back and closes the first vowel; American English often fronts the stress instead, and both are widely heard.
- Dre — The stressed syllable alone; current, brisk and completely established.
- Andy — Borrowed from the English form of the name; plainer and rather older.
One short form, two names
- Anderson and Andre both shorten to Andy.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Anderson if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAnderson runs 3 syllables, Andre 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Andy, Anders and Ander
Choose Andre if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAndre is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAndre is 2 syllables to Anderson's 3
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
Anderson
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone in the US already knows from surnames, so it rarely needs to be spelled out twice.
- Two established short forms, Andy and Anders, one informal and one usable as a full name.
- Recognizable across Scottish, English and Scandinavian settings, where the Andersson and Andersen spellings are household-common.
To consider
- The -son ending means, literally, 'son of'. For a girl it works exactly as Madison and Addison do — as a surname, not a statement — but it is worth knowing that the etymology says son.
- It will sometimes be read as a last name on forms and rosters, and a first-name-last-name mix-up is a lifelong small nuisance rather than a real problem.
- Many families already have Andersons among their in-laws, neighbors or classmates' surnames, so the name can feel doubled up in some circles.
Andre
Strengths
- It travels: close forms exist across Europe and are recognized everywhere.
- Dre is a short form that sounds entirely current and needs no explaining.
- The name has been in continuous American use for the whole length of the record.
To consider
- The stress is genuinely unsettled between the French and American readings.
- The accent that would fix it is stripped by most American forms and systems.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
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 Anderson and Andre 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 Anderson and Andre?
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 these names appear on
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Preppy names with a monogrammed feel
- all guides
Where Anderson and Andre each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anderson or Andre — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anderson or Andre?
- Anderson, in 2025: Anderson ranked #363 with 898 babies; Andre ranked #368 with 868 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anderson or Andre?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Anderson moved down 57 places; Andre moved down 86 places.
- Which is the older name, Anderson or Andre?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Anderson and Andre?
- About 28,000 people named Anderson are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 119,000 people named Andre are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Anderson and Andre share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Andy, 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 Anderson, Andre and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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