Head to head · Girls' names
Annabelle vs Paige
#343 vs #346 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Annabelle is a whisker ahead (#343 vs #346 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, Annabelle leads 3 measures of 6; Paige 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: Annabelle #493, Paige — — Annabelle higher
- 1890s: Annabelle #446, Paige — — Annabelle higher
- 1900s: Annabelle #375, Paige — — Annabelle higher
- 1910s: Annabelle #300, Paige #2900 — Annabelle higher
- 1920s: Annabelle #271, Paige #3647 — Annabelle higher
- 1930s: Annabelle #401, Paige #3373 — Annabelle higher
- 1940s: Annabelle #691, Paige #1482 — Annabelle higher
- 1950s: Annabelle #1374, Paige #1016 — Paige higher
- 1960s: Annabelle #1442, Paige #423 — Paige higher
- 1970s: Annabelle #1754, Paige #445 — Paige higher
- 1980s: Annabelle #1940, Paige #303 — Paige higher
- 1990s: Annabelle #1188, Paige #66 — Paige higher
- 2000s: Annabelle #272, Paige #70 — Paige higher
- 2010s: Annabelle #109, Paige #148 — Annabelle higher
- 2020s: Annabelle #308, Paige #328 — Annabelle higher
Annabelle stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Annabelle has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Annabelle | Paige |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #493 | — |
| 1890s | #446 | — |
| 1900s | #375 | — |
| 1910s | #300 | #2900 |
| 1920s | #271 | #3647 |
| 1930s | #401 | #3373 |
| 1940s | #691 | #1482 |
| 1950s | #1374 | #1016 |
| 1960s | #1442 | #423 |
| 1970s | #1754 | #445 |
| 1980s | #1940 | #303 |
| 1990s | #1188 | #66 |
| 2000s | #272 | #70 |
| 2010s | #109 | #148 |
| 2020s | #308 | #328 |
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
Annabelle
Either "lovable" or, read as Anna + belle, "grace" plus "beautiful"
Name scholars generally trace Annabel back to Amabel, from Latin amabilis, "lovable." But the name was long ago reinterpreted as a compound of Anna and the French belle, "beautiful" — and the -belle spelling is a product of exactly that rereading. Both readings are genuinely in play; the second is the reason this form of the name exists at all.
Amabilis → Amabel → Annabel → Annabella → Annabelle
How it traveled
The name surfaces in Scotland in the Middle Ages as Annabel or Annabella, a form that circulated among Scottish nobility — Annabella Drummond was queen consort to Robert III of Scotland, and died at the very start of the fifteenth century. From Scotland it spread through England and eventually across the Atlantic, where it has been recorded since American record-keeping began.
Paige
a young servant
The word behind the name meant a boy in service in a household, and the reading is settled. It reached English from French and Italian, and further back from a Greek word for a child. As a surname it described the job; as a first name it describes nothing, which is the ordinary fate of occupational names.
A Greek word for a child, through Italian and French → An English word for a boy in service → A surname with an added letter → Paige as a first name, mostly for girls
Our story of Paige — where the record runs out
The name and the word have quietly settled on different spellings, and that is unusual. Normally a word-name keeps the word's spelling and the two are read together: a rose is a rose whether it is a flower or a woman.
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
Annabelle
AN-uh-bel
Stress on the first syllable. The final -belle sounds the same as the shorter Annabel — the extra letters are silent, which is precisely where the spelling trouble starts.
- Anna — Stands fully on its own as a given name; used both formally and at home.
- Annie — The informal short form, in continuous English use for centuries, and a registered given name in its own right.
- Belle — Takes the second half instead of the first; also independently used as a given name.
- Bella — Widely used as a familiar form, though it belongs more properly to Isabella and Arabella.
- Also Ann, Nell.
Paige
PAYJ
One syllable. The i is entirely silent and does nothing to the vowel in front of it, which already had its value from the a and the final e.
- Pai — The front alone, which is minimal and almost unshared.
- Paigey — The softened form, warm and used inside families.
- PJ — The initials, unisex and thoroughly American.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Annabelle if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAnnabelle is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itAnnabelle runs 3 syllables, Paige 1
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Anna, Annie and Belle
- a long American recordAnnabelle was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Paige if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesPaige is 1 syllable to Annabelle's 3
- a newer arrivalPaige entered the US charts in 1915
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
Annabelle
Strengths
- Everyone can pronounce it on sight, in English and in French, with no coaching required.
- An unusually deep bench of established short forms — Anna, Annie, Belle — each already a real name someone could grow into.
- A documented line running from medieval Scotland to the present, with no gap in use.
To consider
- Three spellings compete: Annabelle, Annabel and Anabelle. Whichever you pick will be written the other ways by other people, more or less permanently.
- The 2014 horror film Annabelle and its sequels attached the name to a possessed doll. It made no dent in the name's use, but it is the first thing an internet search returns, and worth knowing in advance.
- It sits inside a large family of -bella and -belle names, so it may be misheard as Isabella or Arabella, and nicknames can drift toward the generic Bella.
Paige
Strengths
- One syllable, no ambiguity, and nothing at all to teach anybody.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
- The spelling separates the name from the ordinary word.
To consider
- The silent i has to be given every time the name is spelled aloud.
- The word it comes from named boys, which some families weigh.
- It is closely tied to the turn of the twenty-first century.
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 Annabelle and Paige 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 Annabelle and Paige?
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 Annabelle and Paige — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Annabelle or Paige — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Annabelle or Paige?
- Annabelle, in 2025: Annabelle ranked #343 with 891 babies; Paige ranked #346 with 884 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Annabelle or Paige?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Annabelle moved down 123 places; Paige moved down 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Annabelle or Paige?
- Annabelle was already in use when US records began in 1880; Paige entered the US charts in 1915. On the American record, Annabelle is the older name.
- How many people are named Annabelle and Paige?
- About 54,000 people named Annabelle are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 144,000 people named Paige are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Annabelles or Paiges in the classroom?
- Annabelle will almost certainly be the only one in school. Paige 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 Annabelle, Paige and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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