Head to head · Girls' names
Anna vs Athena
#107 vs #109 in 2025
Anna is a whisker ahead (#107 vs #109 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Anna is stepping back from its peak, Athena is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Athena 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, Anna leads 5 measures of 6; Athena 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: Anna #2, Athena — — Anna higher
- 1890s: Anna #2, Athena — — Anna higher
- 1900s: Anna #4, Athena #1826 — Anna higher
- 1910s: Anna #7, Athena #1536 — Anna higher
- 1920s: Anna #14, Athena #1202 — Anna higher
- 1930s: Anna #32, Athena #1658 — Anna higher
- 1940s: Anna #74, Athena #2015 — Anna higher
- 1950s: Anna #101, Athena #1415 — Anna higher
- 1960s: Anna #98, Athena #835 — Anna higher
- 1970s: Anna #82, Athena #638 — Anna higher
- 1980s: Anna #54, Athena #643 — Anna higher
- 1990s: Anna #39, Athena #703 — Anna higher
- 2000s: Anna #23, Athena #483 — Anna higher
- 2010s: Anna #43, Athena #198 — Anna higher
- 2020s: Anna #86, Athena #93 — Anna higher
Anna stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anna | Athena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #2 | — |
| 1890s | #2 | — |
| 1900s | #4 | #1826 |
| 1910s | #7 | #1536 |
| 1920s | #14 | #1202 |
| 1930s | #32 | #1658 |
| 1940s | #74 | #2015 |
| 1950s | #101 | #1415 |
| 1960s | #98 | #835 |
| 1970s | #82 | #638 |
| 1980s | #54 | #643 |
| 1990s | #39 | #703 |
| 2000s | #23 | #483 |
| 2010s | #43 | #198 |
| 2020s | #86 | #93 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Anna
- France#15
- Canada#51
- Scotland#54
Athena
- Canada#82
- England & Wales#96
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Anna
grace, favor
Anna is the Greek and Latin rendering of Hebrew Ḥannāh, from a root meaning grace or favor.
Ḥannāh → Hanna → Anna → Anne → Ann
How it traveled
The Hebrew name Ḥannāh belonged to the mother of the prophet Samuel; when Jewish scholars translated their scriptures into Greek, they wrote it Anna, and that form entered Latin and then all of Christian Europe. A prophetess named Anna appears in the Gospel of Luke, and Christian tradition gave the name to the mother of Mary, which sent it into the calendars of saints and from there into ordinary use in nearly every European language.
Athena
Not established
The name is older than Greek etymology can reach. It appears in Mycenaean Linear B tablets from Knossos as a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja, and scholars have never settled whether the goddess was named for the city of Athens or the city for the goddess — most now treat both as pre-Greek, from a language spoken in the region before Greek arrived. Plato's dialogue Cratylus offers an ancient guess, reading it as 'divine mind', but that is Greek speculation about an already-old word rather than a recovered origin. What is documented is the role, not the root: Athena as goddess of wisdom, craft, weaving and strategy in war.
a-ta-na (Mycenaean Greek, Linear B) → Athana (Doric Greek) → Athēnē / Athēnaia (Attic Greek) → Athena (Latin) → Athena (English)
How it traveled
Athena belonged first to Bronze Age Greece, named on clay tablets before Homer, and the Iliad and Odyssey give her the standing epithet glaukopis — bright-eyed, or owl-eyed, which is why the owl became hers. Athens took her as its patron, struck her on its coins, and built the Parthenon on the hill above the city for her.
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
Anna
AN-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first. Much of continental Europe says AH-nah, with a broader first vowel — both are the same name, and speakers switch between them without difficulty.
- Annie — The long-standing English short form, and a registered given name in its own right for well over a century.
- Anya — The Russian diminutive, used independently as a given name in English-speaking countries.
- Ania — Standard Polish diminutive, informal, used at home and among friends.
- Nan — An older English short form from the Ann/Anna family; now mostly heard among earlier generations.
- Also Annushka, Anni.
Athena
uh-THEE-nuh
Standard in English. Greek speakers say it ah-thee-NAH, with the stress on the last syllable — worth knowing if there is Greek family involved, since both are correct in their own language.
- Thena — The most-used short form in English, informal and family-level; it does not stand alone as a given name.
- Attie — Informal, spelled Attie or Atty; shares its sound with short forms of Atticus and Matilda.
- Tina — Taken from the middle of the name; a long-established given name in its own right, common among older generations.
- Athie — Informal and mostly household use; the 'th' keeps it clearly tied to the full name.
Who has carried each name
Anna
Anna Kendrick (b. 1985) — Pitch Perfect star
Anna Wintour (b. 1949) — Vogue's legendary editor-in-chief
Anna Pavlova (b. 1882) — The ballerina so famous a dessert was named after her
Athena
No documented entry for Athena 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 Anna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAnna is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAnna is 2 syllables to Athena's 3
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Annie, Anya and Ania
- a name that charts abroad tooAnna is on the national lists of France, Canada and Scotland
Choose Athena if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAthena runs 3 syllables, Anna 2
- a newer arrivalAthena entered the US charts in 1902
- a name that feels very nowAthena is holding its place on the charts
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
Anna
Strengths
- Spelled the same in English, German, Italian, Polish, Russian, Hungarian, Greek and the Nordic languages — no adaptation needed when it crosses a border.
- Everyone can spell it on the first try, and it fits any form field.
- Established short forms already exist: Annie, Anya, Ania, Nan — no need to invent one.
To consider
- Ana, Anne and Hannah are all in circulation and all sound close, so she may spend a lifetime confirming the spelling — usually with one short sentence rather than a struggle.
- In the United States it has a long history behind it, and a great many living Annas were named generations ago. That gives the name real depth; it also means she may meet more grown Annas than young ones.
- Four letters and two soft syllables can blur against a very short surname. Saying the full name aloud a few times settles the question quickly.
Athena
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and recognized on sight across Europe and the Americas thanks to the goddess — very little correcting to do.
- A documented written record stretching from Bronze Age clay tablets to today, unbroken and never reinvented.
- Charts in Canada and England and Wales as well as the US, so it travels without becoming a different name.
To consider
- The mythology comes with it. Every school unit on ancient Greece, every owl joke, every 'goddess of wisdom' remark — most children take this in stride, but it is a lifetime of the same three comments.
- English and Greek stress the name differently, uh-THEE-nuh against ah-thee-NAH, and a Greek-speaking family may also prefer the spelling Athina. Worth agreeing on early.
- It is far more common among children now than among adults, so some people will hear it as a new name and others as a very old one. Both are right.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Anna
12%chance Anna feels dated by 2040
Anna has held the top-100 across 14 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Athena
40%chance Athena feels dated by 2040
Athena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Anna and Athena 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 Anna and Athena?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Anna and Athena — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anna or Athena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anna or Athena?
- Anna, in 2025: Anna ranked #107 with 2,521 babies; Athena ranked #109 with 2,477 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anna or Athena?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Anna moved down 39 places; Athena moved down 2 places.
- Which is the older name, Anna or Athena?
- Anna was already in use when US records began in 1880; Athena entered the US charts in 1902. On the American record, Anna is the older name.
- How many people are named Anna and Athena?
- About 445,000 people named Anna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 51,500 people named Athena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Annas or Athenas in the classroom?
- Anna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Athena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Anna, Athena and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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