Head to head · Boys' names
Andrew vs Atlas
#73 vs #75 in 2025
Andrew is a whisker ahead (#73 vs #75 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Andrew is stepping back from its peak, Atlas is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Atlas 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, Andrew leads 5 measures of 6; Atlas 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: Andrew #28, Atlas #892 — Andrew higher
- 1890s: Andrew #36, Atlas #884 — Andrew higher
- 1900s: Andrew #40, Atlas #1037 — Andrew higher
- 1910s: Andrew #45, Atlas #1874 — Andrew higher
- 1920s: Andrew #55, Atlas #2264 — Andrew higher
- 1930s: Andrew #76, Atlas #2596 — Andrew higher
- 1940s: Andrew #81, Atlas #2616 — Andrew higher
- 1950s: Andrew #63, Atlas #3176 — Andrew higher
- 1960s: Andrew #41, Atlas #3310 — Andrew higher
- 1970s: Andrew #27, Atlas #4830 — Andrew higher
- 1980s: Andrew #12, Atlas #5775 — Andrew higher
- 1990s: Andrew #8, Atlas #6576 — Andrew higher
- 2000s: Andrew #8, Atlas #4766 — Andrew higher
- 2010s: Andrew #29, Atlas #759 — Andrew higher
- 2020s: Andrew #63, Atlas #125 — Andrew higher
Andrew stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Andrew | Atlas |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #28 | #892 |
| 1890s | #36 | #884 |
| 1900s | #40 | #1037 |
| 1910s | #45 | #1874 |
| 1920s | #55 | #2264 |
| 1930s | #76 | #2596 |
| 1940s | #81 | #2616 |
| 1950s | #63 | #3176 |
| 1960s | #41 | #3310 |
| 1970s | #27 | #4830 |
| 1980s | #12 | #5775 |
| 1990s | #8 | #6576 |
| 2000s | #8 | #4766 |
| 2010s | #29 | #759 |
| 2020s | #63 | #125 |
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
Andrew
manly, brave
From the Greek andreios, manly or courageous, built on aner, a man, in the stem form andros. The same root gives English android and misandry, and it is one of the most productive words in Greek naming.
andreios → Andreas → Andrew
How it traveled
Andrew was the first of the disciples called, according to John's Gospel, and the traditions about him send him east and north — to Greece, where he is said to have been martyred on a diagonal cross, and to the Black Sea. That diagonal cross became the saltire, which is why it is on the flags of Scotland, of Russia's navy, and inside the Union Jack.
Atlas
bearer, one who endures
The long-standing Greek reading connects the name to the verb root meaning 'to bear' or 'to endure' — the one who carries. Other linguists argue the name is pre-Greek, taken into Greek from an older language of the region along with the figure himself, in which case the 'bearer' sense is a later fit rather than the origin. Both readings are seriously held.
Átlas (Greek) → Atlas (Latin) → Atlas (English)
How it traveled
In Greek myth Atlas is a Titan who, after the war against the gods, is set to hold the heavens apart from the earth — an image fixed in poetry by Hesiod and repeated by every writer after him. His name spread outward onto the map: the Atlas Mountains of northwest Africa, and the Atlantic, the sea beyond them.
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
Andrew
AN-droo
Two syllables, stress on the first. The Italian Andrea is a man's name said an-DRAY-ah, which regularly confuses English speakers who read it as a woman's name; the two are the same name in different languages.
- Andy — The standard short form, warm and long established; fully unisex in American use and shared with Andrea.
- Drew — Taken from the back of the name rather than the front, which is unusual; it is now a standing given name of its own and reads as considerably more modern than Andy.
- Dre — A shorter clipping from the middle, current in American use and completely detached in sound from the full name.
Atlas
AT-lass
Stress on the first syllable, the second said lightly. The same in English, Spanish, French and Turkish; Greek and Italian shift toward a-TLAS and Atlante.
- Atlas — Overwhelmingly used at full length; two syllables leave little to trim, and most families never shorten it.
- Atti — Informal, family-level pet form; not a given name in its own right in English.
- At — Clipped and informal, heard among friends rather than adults.
Who has carried each name
Andrew
Andrew Carnegie (b. 1835) — Steel titan who gave away his fortune building 2,500 libraries
Andrew Garfield (b. 1983) — Spider-Man and Hacksaw Ridge star
Andrew Jackson (b. 1767) — The president on the $20 bill
Atlas
No documented entry for Atlas 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 Andrew if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAndrew is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordAndrew was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 60% for Atlas
Choose Atlas if you want…
- a name on the way upup 113 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalAtlas entered the US charts in 1883
- a name that feels very nowAtlas is climbing the charts fast
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
Andrew
Strengths
- It has been in continuous use in English for the better part of a thousand years and has never sounded dated.
- Andy and Drew are both fully established and belong to different generations, so a boy has real range.
- Every European language has a form of it, which makes it unusually portable.
To consider
- It reached the very top of the American list within living memory, so a man of a certain age will have shared classrooms with several.
- Andrew and Andrea are the same name in Italy and different names here, which causes confusion abroad.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy; the girls in the record are few enough that no form will expect one.
Atlas
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to every English speaker from the map book — nothing to repeat, correct or spell out on the phone.
- Two syllables with a hard opening consonant, which carries across a playground and sits easily before most surnames.
- The same spelling works in Spanish, French and Turkish, which matters in the states where the name is strongest.
To consider
- It is also a common word and a common company name — moving firms, gyms, insurance, tires. A child will meet the word on trucks and signs, which some families like and others find flattening.
- The myth is a punishment: a figure condemned to hold up the sky forever. Most people hear strength in it, but the sense of a burden is there in the story too.
- The name is climbing quickly, so it will feel unusual in early classrooms and considerably less so among children a decade younger. Rare now does not mean rare for life.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Andrew
12%chance Andrew feels dated by 2040
Andrew has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Atlas
60%chance Atlas feels dated by 2040
Atlas is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
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 Andrew and Atlas 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 that carry both names
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Andrew and Atlas — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Andrew or Atlas — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Andrew or Atlas?
- Andrew, in 2025: Andrew ranked #73 with 4,497 babies; Atlas ranked #75 with 4,413 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Andrew or Atlas?
- Atlas. Over the last five years Andrew moved down 21 places; Atlas moved up 113 places.
- Which is the older name, Andrew or Atlas?
- Andrew was already in use when US records began in 1880; Atlas entered the US charts in 1883. On the American record, Andrew is the older name.
- How many people are named Andrew and Atlas?
- About 1,138,000 people named Andrew are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 25,500 people named Atlas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Andrews or Atlass in the classroom?
- Andrew will almost certainly be the only one in school. Atlas 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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