Head to head · Boys' names
Andre vs Ari
#368 vs #393 in 2025
Andre is a whisker ahead (#368 vs #393 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Andre is stepping back from its peak, Ari is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Ari 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, Andre leads 5 measures of 6; Ari 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: Andre #809, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1890s: Andre #991, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1900s: Andre #943, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1910s: Andre #1240, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1920s: Andre #921, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1930s: Andre #656, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1940s: Andre #491, Ari — — Andre higher
- 1950s: Andre #284, Ari #2557 — Andre higher
- 1960s: Andre #166, Ari #1163 — Andre higher
- 1970s: Andre #131, Ari #743 — Andre higher
- 1980s: Andre #130, Ari #809 — Andre higher
- 1990s: Andre #161, Ari #829 — Andre higher
- 2000s: Andre #209, Ari #651 — Andre higher
- 2010s: Andre #263, Ari #427 — Andre higher
- 2020s: Andre #316, Ari #366 — Andre higher
Andre stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Andre | Ari |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #809 | — |
| 1890s | #991 | — |
| 1900s | #943 | — |
| 1910s | #1240 | — |
| 1920s | #921 | — |
| 1930s | #656 | — |
| 1940s | #491 | — |
| 1950s | #284 | #2557 |
| 1960s | #166 | #1163 |
| 1970s | #131 | #743 |
| 1980s | #130 | #809 |
| 1990s | #161 | #829 |
| 2000s | #209 | #651 |
| 2010s | #263 | #427 |
| 2020s | #316 | #366 |
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
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.
Ari
'Lion' in Hebrew; 'eagle' in Old Norse
These are not rival guesses about one name but genuinely separate names that met at one spelling. Hebrew ari (a short form of Aryeh) means lion, and that is the reading behind most American Aris. Old Norse ari is a poetic word for eagle, the source of the Icelandic name. In Greek, Ari is a clipping of names built on the ari- element found in Aristotle and Ariadne. In Finland it has long been used as an independent given name in its own right.
Aryeh → Ari
How it traveled
The Hebrew road is the oldest and the busiest: Aryeh, lion, is a name and a word carried through the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic writing, with Ari as its everyday short form, and it traveled with Jewish families to English-speaking countries. The Norse road runs separately — Ari Þorgilsson, the Icelandic priest who compiled Íslendingabók in the twelfth century, is the earliest famous bearer, and Ari has stayed in ordinary use in Iceland ever since.
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
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.
Ari
AR-ee
AR-ee, with the first syllable as in 'are', is the Hebrew and Icelandic pronunciation and the usual American one. Some families who reach the name through Ariel or Ariana say AIR-ee instead. Both are in real use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Andre if you want…
- a name most people already know#368 in 2025, 868 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsAndre is stepping back from its peak
- plenty of nickname options2 recorded short forms — Dre and Andy
- a long American recordAndre was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Ari if you want…
- a name fewer children share#393 in 2025 — ari will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Ari
- a newer arrivalAri entered the US charts in 1958
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
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.
Ari
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable at a glance in English, Hebrew, Finnish and Icelandic — a rare thing for a name with roots in that many places.
- Works as a full given name or as the short form of Ariel, Arielle, Ariana, Aryeh or Aristotle, so a longer formal name remains an option.
- A documented record stretching from the Hebrew Bible's word for lion to a twelfth-century Icelandic chronicler and into ordinary modern use.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, AR-ee and AIR-ee, and near neighbors in Ari, Arie, Ary and Aria. Expect to say which one you mean fairly often, especially on the phone.
- Recorded for both boys and girls without settling, and leaning to boys. A girl named Ari may be assumed male on paper more often than the reverse, which some families mind and others do not.
- People often ask what it is short for. Given on its own it is complete, and has been for centuries — but the question will come up.
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 Andre and Ari 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 Andre and Ari?
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
- French names with effortless chic
- Latin American and Caribbean names
- Names that work in English and French
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- all guides
Where Andre and Ari each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Andre or Ari — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Andre or Ari?
- Andre, in 2025: Andre ranked #368 with 868 babies; Ari ranked #393 with 808 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Andre or Ari?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Andre moved down 86 places; Ari moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Andre or Ari?
- Andre was already in use when US records began in 1880; Ari entered the US charts in 1958. On the American record, Andre is the older name.
- How many people are named Andre and Ari?
- About 119,000 people named Andre are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 20,000 people named Ari are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Andres or Aris in the classroom?
- Andre will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ari 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
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