Head to head · Girls' names
Angie vs Drew
#705 vs #705 in 2025
Angie and Drew share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#705). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Angie leads 3 measures of 6; Drew 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: Angie #310, Drew — — Angie higher
- 1890s: Angie #380, Drew — — Angie higher
- 1900s: Angie #435, Drew — — Angie higher
- 1910s: Angie #446, Drew #3869 — Angie higher
- 1920s: Angie #479, Drew #4716 — Angie higher
- 1930s: Angie #449, Drew #4266 — Angie higher
- 1940s: Angie #507, Drew #4174 — Angie higher
- 1950s: Angie #493, Drew #3474 — Angie higher
- 1960s: Angie #241, Drew #4621 — Angie higher
- 1970s: Angie #205, Drew #7362 — Angie higher
- 1980s: Angie #432, Drew #2493 — Angie higher
- 1990s: Angie #632, Drew #1039 — Angie higher
- 2000s: Angie #380, Drew #1091 — Angie higher
- 2010s: Angie #571, Drew #1213 — Angie higher
- 2020s: Angie #690, Drew #794 — Angie higher
Angie stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Angie | Drew |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #310 | — |
| 1890s | #380 | — |
| 1900s | #435 | — |
| 1910s | #446 | #3869 |
| 1920s | #479 | #4716 |
| 1930s | #449 | #4266 |
| 1940s | #507 | #4174 |
| 1950s | #493 | #3474 |
| 1960s | #241 | #4621 |
| 1970s | #205 | #7362 |
| 1980s | #432 | #2493 |
| 1990s | #632 | #1039 |
| 2000s | #380 | #1091 |
| 2010s | #571 | #1213 |
| 2020s | #690 | #794 |
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
Angie
messenger; angel
Angie belongs to the family of Angela, from Greek angelos, 'messenger', which passed into church Latin as angelus and came to mean 'angel'.
angelos (Greek) → angelus (Latin) → Angela → Angelina / Angelica → Angie
How it traveled
The root is the Greek angelos, a messenger — the ordinary word for someone carrying news, which the Greek translators of the Hebrew Bible used for divine messengers. Latin took it as angelus, and the feminine Angela spread through Catholic Europe, joined by Angelina and Angelica.
Drew
man, from the Greek for "man"
Drew carries the meaning of Andrew, from Greek Andreas, built on andr-, "man". The English surname Drew has a separate and less certain history, tied to the Norman personal name Drogo.
Andreas → Andrew → Drew
How it traveled
Drew began as a clipped form of Andrew, the English version of Greek Andreas — the name the Greek New Testament gives to one of the fishermen among the twelve apostles, which is why it spread across Christian Europe in dozens of shapes. Medieval English speakers habitually trimmed the front off long names, and Andrew gave up its first syllable the way Nicholas gave up its last.
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
Angie
AN-jee
Soft g, as in angel. Occasionally misread with a hard g, as in angle, by someone seeing it written before hearing it.
- Ang — Informal clipping, common among family and close friends; rarely written down.
- Ange — Used chiefly in British and Australian speech, for both Angie and Angela.
- Angie — Itself the standard short form of Angela, Angelina and Angelica, and long established as a full given name too.
Drew
DROO
One syllable, rhyming with "true". The same in American and British English, and easy for speakers of most other languages to approximate.
- Dru — A spelling variant used informally, and also given as a name on its own; indistinguishable from Drew when spoken.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Angie if you want…
- a name holding steadyAngie is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itAngie runs 2 syllables, Drew 1
- plenty of nickname options3 recorded short forms — Ang, Ange and Angie
- a long American recordAngie was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Drew if you want…
- a name on the way upup 238 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesDrew is 1 syllable to Angie's 2
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Drew (Dru)
- a newer arrivalDrew entered the US charts in 1918
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
Angie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for most English speakers, and already familiar in writing — little need to repeat it letter by letter.
- Works either as a full name or as the short form of Angela, Angelina or Angelica, so a longer formal version is available if you want one.
- On the American record continuously since national name records began, without ever dropping out of use.
To consider
- Because it began as a nickname, some people will assume there is a longer name behind it and ask what Angie is short for. That is easy to answer, but it will come up.
- It is far better represented among adults than among children right now — a child named Angie will likely be the only one in her school while meeting grown women who share it.
- The Rolling Stones ballad follows the name around, so expect it to be sung at her occasionally by people old enough to remember the record.
Drew
Strengths
- One syllable and four letters, spelled the way an ordinary English word is spelled — rarely misheard, almost never misspelled once heard.
- Works as a full legal name or as the short form of Andrew, so a child can grow into either without paperwork.
- Recorded continuously in American births across every shift in naming fashion, so it reads as neither new nor dated.
To consider
- It leans to boys without settling there, so a girl named Drew will occasionally be read as male on forms, rosters and email before anyone meets her. Most families find this a small, manageable friction rather than a problem.
- There is no shorter form and no obvious affectionate variant — Drew is already the nickname. Some parents choose Andrew on the certificate to keep a longer option in reserve.
- It is also the past tense of "draw", which means autocorrect and casual readers occasionally treat it as a verb. In speech this never comes 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 Angie and Drew 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 Angie and Drew?
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
Where Angie and Drew each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Angie or Drew — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Angie or Drew?
- They tie in 2025: Angie ranked #705 with 399 babies; Drew ranked #705 with 399 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Angie or Drew?
- Drew. Over the last five years Angie moved down 52 places; Drew moved up 238 places.
- Which is the older name, Angie or Drew?
- Angie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Drew entered the US charts in 1918. On the American record, Angie is the older name.
- How many people are named Angie and Drew?
- About 55,500 people named Angie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,300 people named Drew are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Angies or Drews in the classroom?
- Angie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Drew 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Angie, Drew and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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