Head to head · Girls' names
Angela vs Annalise
#408 vs #409 in 2025
Angela is a whisker ahead (#408 vs #409 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Angela is stepping back from its peak, Annalise is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Annalise 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, Angela leads 5 measures of 6; Annalise 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: Angela #458, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1890s: Angela #352, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1900s: Angela #283, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1910s: Angela #230, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1920s: Angela #261, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1930s: Angela #242, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1940s: Angela #193, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1950s: Angela #111, Annalise — — Angela higher
- 1960s: Angela #22, Annalise #5965 — Angela higher
- 1970s: Angela #6, Annalise #5532 — Angela higher
- 1980s: Angela #28, Annalise #2822 — Angela higher
- 1990s: Angela #79, Annalise #1266 — Angela higher
- 2000s: Angela #107, Annalise #706 — Angela higher
- 2010s: Angela #212, Annalise #457 — Angela higher
- 2020s: Angela #276, Annalise #424 — Angela higher
Angela stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Angela | Annalise |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #458 | — |
| 1890s | #352 | — |
| 1900s | #283 | — |
| 1910s | #230 | — |
| 1920s | #261 | — |
| 1930s | #242 | — |
| 1940s | #193 | — |
| 1950s | #111 | — |
| 1960s | #22 | #5965 |
| 1970s | #6 | #5532 |
| 1980s | #28 | #2822 |
| 1990s | #79 | #1266 |
| 2000s | #107 | #706 |
| 2010s | #212 | #457 |
| 2020s | #276 | #424 |
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
Angela
messenger
Greek, and the sense is straightforwardly occupational. The religious meaning is a translation choice: when the Hebrew scriptures were put into Greek, the word for a messenger was used for the beings who carry God's messages, and it narrowed from there.
angelos → Angela → Angelina
How it traveled
The woman the name is best known for founded a religious order and then made sure it did not look like one. In sixteenth-century Italy, women who wanted a religious life had a convent or nothing; she assembled a company of women who took vows, taught girls in their own neighborhoods, and went on living in their own houses with their own families.
Annalise
a blend of Anna ('grace, favor') and Liese, short for Elisabeth
Anna comes through Greek and Latin from Hebrew Hannah, 'grace' or 'favor'; Liese is the German short form of Elisabeth, from Hebrew Elisheva. Compound names like this were built for sound as much as for sense, so the two meanings sit side by side rather than combining into one phrase.
Hannah → Anna → Anna + Liese (Elisabeth) → Anneliese → Annalise
How it traveled
German-speaking Europe had a long habit of fusing a girl's two baptismal names into a single word, and Anna plus Liese was among the most productive of these pairings, giving Anneliese, Annelies, Annelise and Annelie. The type flourished in Germany, the Netherlands and Scandinavia through the first half of the twentieth century; Anne Frank, born in Frankfurt in 1929, was registered as Annelies Marie.
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
Angela
AN-juh-luh
Three syllables with the stress at the front. Italian and Spanish say it with a harder g and the same stress, which English speakers rarely attempt.
- Angie — The dominant short form and a standing name in its own right.
- Ange — Clipped after the first syllable; used in Britain and Australia more than America.
- Gela — The back of the name used alone; unusual and rather striking.
Annalise
AN-uh-leess
Also widely said AN-uh-leez, with a z. Both are accepted in the US and neither is a correction of the other; the German Anneliese runs ah-nuh-LEE-zuh, with the stress further back.
- Anna — The front half, and a full given name in its own right in most of Europe; often what a class or a teacher defaults to.
- Annie — Informal, long established as a short form of the Anna and Anne family.
- Lise — The back half; used as an independent name in Denmark, Norway and France.
- Ally — Informal, drawn from the first two syllables; also stands alone as a given name in the US.
- Also Anne, Leese.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Angela if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAngela is stepping back from its peak
- a long American recordAngela was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Annalise if you want…
- a name on the way upup 31 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Anna, Annie and Lise
- a newer arrivalAnnalise entered the US charts in 1965
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
Angela
Strengths
- It is recognized across Europe with almost no change of spelling.
- The meaning is warm and easy to explain without any etymology.
- Angie is a short form that works in any setting and at any age.
To consider
- Its peak was very large and very concentrated, which dates the name clearly.
- Angela, Angelia and Anjela all appear and the spelling occasionally gets queried.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Annalise
Strengths
- Built from two names almost everyone already knows, Anna and Lise, so the parts are legible even when the whole spelling is new to someone.
- Short forms come free at both ends — Anna, Annie, Lise, Ally — with no need to invent one.
- Recognizable in German, Dutch, Danish, Norwegian and French in closely related spellings, which travels well across families and borders.
To consider
- The spelling is genuinely contested: Annalise, Annelise, Anneliese, Analise and Annaliese all exist in real use. Expect to spell it aloud often, and expect forms to come back with the wrong vowel in the middle.
- Two pronunciations circulate, ending in -leess and in -leez. Neither is wrong, so she will spend a lifetime giving her preference — a small, easily handled correction rather than a burden.
- Because Anna sits at the front, many people will shorten it there by default. Worth knowing if you love the full three syllables and want them used.
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 Angela and Annalise 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 Angela and Annalise?
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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
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Millennial names (born 1981–1996)
- The most common names in America today
- all guides
Where Angela and Annalise each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Angela or Annalise — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Angela or Annalise?
- Angela, in 2025: Angela ranked #408 with 765 babies; Annalise ranked #409 with 764 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Angela or Annalise?
- Annalise. Over the last five years Angela moved down 157 places; Annalise moved up 31 places.
- Which is the older name, Angela or Annalise?
- Angela was already in use when US records began in 1880; Annalise entered the US charts in 1965. On the American record, Angela is the older name.
- How many people are named Angela and Annalise?
- About 613,000 people named Angela are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,000 people named Annalise are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Angelas or Annalises in the classroom?
- Angela will almost certainly be the only one in school. Annalise 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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