Head to head · Girls' names
Andrea vs Arianna
#235 vs #234 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Arianna is a whisker ahead (#234 vs #235 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
On the charts, Andrea leads 3 measures of 6; Arianna 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: Andrea #885, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1890s: Andrea #887, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1900s: Andrea #891, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1910s: Andrea #801, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1920s: Andrea #678, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1930s: Andrea #506, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1940s: Andrea #164, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1950s: Andrea #133, Arianna — — Andrea higher
- 1960s: Andrea #75, Arianna #3594 — Andrea higher
- 1970s: Andrea #30, Arianna #2965 — Andrea higher
- 1980s: Andrea #32, Arianna #999 — Andrea higher
- 1990s: Andrea #51, Arianna #272 — Andrea higher
- 2000s: Andrea #61, Arianna #87 — Andrea higher
- 2010s: Andrea #115, Arianna #66 — Arianna higher
- 2020s: Andrea #179, Arianna #177 — Arianna higher
Andrea stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Arianna has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Andrea | Arianna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #885 | — |
| 1890s | #887 | — |
| 1900s | #891 | — |
| 1910s | #801 | — |
| 1920s | #678 | — |
| 1930s | #506 | — |
| 1940s | #164 | — |
| 1950s | #133 | — |
| 1960s | #75 | #3594 |
| 1970s | #30 | #2965 |
| 1980s | #32 | #999 |
| 1990s | #51 | #272 |
| 2000s | #61 | #87 |
| 2010s | #115 | #66 |
| 2020s | #179 | #177 |
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
Andrea
Manly, brave — from Greek andreios, from anēr, andros, 'man'
The English feminine Andrea was formed from Andrew, which descends from the same Greek root.
Andreas (Greek) → Andreas (Latin) → Andrew → Andrea
How it traveled
The Greek Andreas comes from andreios, 'manly, brave', built on anēr, 'man', and it spread across Christendom with the apostle Andrew. Latin carried it into Italian as Andrea, which is still a man's name in Italy — a fact that surprises many English speakers on their first trip there.
Arianna
most holy
From Greek Ariadne: the intensifier ari- joined to adnos, the Cretan form of hagnos, 'holy, pure'.
Ariadne → Ariadna → Arianna → Ariana
How it traveled
The name begins as Ariadne in Greek, borne in myth by the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and it passed into Latin and then into the Romance languages, softening as it went. Italian turned Ariadna into Arianna, French into Ariane, Spanish into Ariadna.
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
Andrea
AN-dree-uh
Also widely said ahn-DRAY-uh in American English, and both are standard — many bearers answer to either. In Italian it is ahn-DREH-ah, with the stress on the middle.
- Andi — The most common short form in American use; also given on its own to some children.
- Andie — Same sound, softer spelling; used informally and occasionally as a standalone name.
- Drea — Takes the second half instead of the first; informal, and mostly a younger-generation habit.
- Andy — Shared with Andrew and Andrews everywhere; informal, and read by many as a boy's short form first.
- Also Andreíta.
Arianna
ar-ee-AH-nuh
The Italian-leaning ar-ee-AH-nuh and the flatter ar-ee-AN-uh (rhyming with Anna) are both in ordinary American use, and families often settle it by habit rather than rule.
- Ari — The most common short form in American use; also given on its own to both girls and boys.
- Aria — Informal clipping that doubles as a standalone given name in current use.
- Anna — Drawn from the middle of the name; a long-established given name in its own right.
- Ria — Informal, mostly family use; also a short form of Maria and Victoria.
- Also Annie.
Who has carried each name
Andrea
Andrea Ghez (b. 1965) — Nobel-winning astronomer who proved our galaxy has a giant black hole
Arianna
Arianna Huffington (b. 1950) — Co-founded The Huffington Post
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 Andrea if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesAndrea is 3 syllables to Arianna's 4
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Arianna
Choose Arianna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsArianna is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itArianna runs 4 syllables, Andrea 3
- a name that feels very nowArianna is stepping back from its peak
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
Andrea
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Spanish, Italian, German and much of Central Europe — no translation, no respelling at a border.
- Several established short forms already in circulation: Andi, Andie, Drea.
- A spelling almost everyone can write on first hearing, with no silent letters or optional h.
To consider
- Two pronunciations are both correct, AN-dree-uh and ahn-DRAY-uh, which means a lifetime of gentle correcting — or of accepting whichever one a stranger reaches for.
- In Italy, Andrea is a man's name and always has been. That rarely causes trouble in the United States, but it can produce a raised eyebrow on a form abroad.
- The name is still strongly represented among adults in their forties, so it may read as a grown woman's name for a while before it reads as a child's. Names of that age tend to come back around.
Arianna
Strengths
- Ari and Anna are both long-established short forms, so the name works at full length and in a single syllable without inventing anything.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, French and English, with a near-identical form waiting in each.
- A documented line back to Greek myth, kept alive on European opera stages since the early seventeenth century.
To consider
- Ariana, with one n, is equally current in the United States. Expect to spell it aloud fairly often, and to see the other version on the odd form and party invitation.
- The two pronunciations — ar-ee-AH-nuh and ar-ee-AN-uh — both sound entirely natural to American ears, so she will meet people who say it the other way and mean no harm by it.
- The Ari- opening is shared with Aria, Ariel and Ariella, so the short form Ari may not be hers alone in a given classroom.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Andrea
25%chance Andrea feels dated by 2040
Andrea peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Arianna
77%chance Arianna feels dated by 2040
Arianna is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 2014). 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 Andrea and Arianna 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
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- Generation Z names (born 1997–2012)
- Spanish and Latin names with warmth
- all guides
Where Andrea and Arianna each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Andrea or Arianna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Andrea or Arianna?
- Arianna, in 2025: Arianna ranked #234 with 1,323 babies; Andrea ranked #235 with 1,317 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Andrea or Arianna?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Andrea moved down 86 places; Arianna moved down 110 places.
- Which is the older name, Andrea or Arianna?
- Andrea entered the US charts in 1881; Arianna entered the US charts in 1963. On the American record, Andrea is the older name.
- How many people are named Andrea and Arianna?
- About 417,000 people named Andrea are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 103,000 people named Arianna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Andreas or Ariannas in the classroom?
- Andrea will almost certainly be the only one in school. Arianna 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
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