Head to head · Girls' names
Anne vs Campbell
#619 vs #617 in 2025
Campbell is a whisker ahead (#617 vs #619 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Campbell is climbing the charts fast, Anne is holding its place on the charts.
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
The tape is even: Anne and Campbell each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Anne #122, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1890s: Anne #111, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1900s: Anne #93, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1910s: Anne #57, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1920s: Anne #80, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1930s: Anne #85, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1940s: Anne #84, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1950s: Anne #83, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1960s: Anne #85, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1970s: Anne #122, Campbell — — Anne higher
- 1980s: Anne #135, Campbell #12362 — Anne higher
- 1990s: Anne #213, Campbell #5120 — Anne higher
- 2000s: Anne #416, Campbell #1073 — Anne higher
- 2010s: Anne #571, Campbell #1035 — Anne higher
- 2020s: Anne #606, Campbell #1045 — Anne higher
Anne stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Anne | Campbell |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #122 | — |
| 1890s | #111 | — |
| 1900s | #93 | — |
| 1910s | #57 | — |
| 1920s | #80 | — |
| 1930s | #85 | — |
| 1940s | #84 | — |
| 1950s | #83 | — |
| 1960s | #85 | — |
| 1970s | #122 | — |
| 1980s | #135 | #12362 |
| 1990s | #213 | #5120 |
| 2000s | #416 | #1073 |
| 2010s | #571 | #1035 |
| 2020s | #606 | #1045 |
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
Anne
Grace, favor
The name is the Greek and Latin form of Hannah, a Hebrew name about grace or favor. The final e is a French spelling convention and carries nothing of its own.
Hannah → Anna → Anne
How it traveled
The orphan in the novel corrects everyone she meets: she will answer to the name only when it is spelled with the e, because the short spelling looks plain to her and the long one looks distinguished. The joke is that the letter is silent and the distinction exists only on paper — and the point, made seriously under the joke, is that a child with nothing else to her name can still have a preference about how she is written down, and that granting it costs nothing.
Campbell
crooked mouth
From the Scottish Gaelic caimbeul, from cam (crooked, bent) and beul (mouth). Like many clan names it started as a personal nickname for one man and outlived every memory of him.
Caimbeul → Campbell
How it traveled
The Campbells were a Gaelic-speaking kindred of Argyll in western Scotland, on record from the thirteenth century and eventually the family of the Dukes of Argyll — a clan whose name appears in Scottish law, land grants and long feuds for centuries. Emigration and the Highland clearances carried the surname to Ulster, Canada, Australia and in great numbers to the American South and Appalachia.
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
Anne
ann
One syllable. The final e is silent and the whole name is a single sound.
- Annie — The name with a soft ending, warm and completely established.
- Nan — An old English form, made by mishearing the name with the word mine.
Campbell
KAM-bul
The p is silent in Scotland, England and the United States alike. Two syllables, stress on the first; a spelling pronunciation with an audible p is not the standard one.
- Cam — The standard short form, used for boys and girls alike, and given on its own as a first name too.
- Cammie — Informal, more often heard for girls; also spelled Cammy.
- Camp — A casual clipping used mostly among friends and on teams, rarely written down.
- Belle — Occasional, drawn from the tail of the name; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Anne if you want…
- a name holding steadyAnne is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesAnne is 1 syllable to Campbell's 2
- a long American recordAnne was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 57% for Campbell
Choose Campbell if you want…
- a name on the way upup 572 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itCampbell runs 2 syllables, Anne 1
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Cam, Cammie and Camp
- a newer arrivalCampbell entered the US charts in 1989
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
Anne
Strengths
- It is short, formal and legible in every European language.
- It works as a first name and as the most-used middle name in English.
- It has never been strange in any century since it arrived.
To consider
- Ann and Anna are both standard and hers will be written as one of them.
- It is very plain on its own and often sits better beside a longer first name.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though nearly every bearer in the record is a girl.
Campbell
Strengths
- Cam gives an immediate, well-worn short form that works equally for a girl or a boy.
- The spelling is fixed and internationally recognized — a clan name with an unbroken written record since medieval Scotland.
- Common as a surname across the English-speaking world, so nobody has to be taught what it is.
To consider
- The soup company is the first thing many Americans think of, and a child will hear about it. It tends to pass quickly, but it does not pass entirely.
- The silent p invites the misspelling Cambell, so expect a lifetime of small corrections on forms and coffee cups.
- Given to both girls and boys, it currently leans toward girls in US records — worth knowing that a Campbell on paper will sometimes be assumed to be the other one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Anne
12%chance Anne feels dated by 2040
Anne has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Campbell
57%chance Campbell feels dated by 2040
Campbell 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 Anne and Campbell 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 Anne and Campbell?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Anne and Campbell — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Anne or Campbell — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Anne or Campbell?
- Campbell, in 2025: Campbell ranked #617 with 474 babies; Anne ranked #619 with 472 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Anne or Campbell?
- Campbell. Over the last five years Anne moved up 7 places; Campbell moved up 572 places.
- Which is the older name, Anne or Campbell?
- Anne was already in use when US records began in 1880; Campbell entered the US charts in 1989. On the American record, Anne is the older name.
- How many people are named Anne and Campbell?
- About 194,000 people named Anne are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,200 people named Campbell are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Annes or Campbells in the classroom?
- Anne will almost certainly be the only one in school. Campbell 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 Anne, Campbell and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap