Head to head · Girls' names
Annie vs Sutton
#182 vs #181 in 2025
Sutton is a whisker ahead (#181 vs #182 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Sutton is climbing the charts fast, Annie is back after a long quiet spell.
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: Annie and Sutton 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: Annie #11, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1890s: Annie #17, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1900s: Annie #17, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1910s: Annie #31, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1920s: Annie #34, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1930s: Annie #43, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1940s: Annie #79, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1950s: Annie #157, Sutton — — Annie higher
- 1960s: Annie #299, Sutton #4375 — Annie higher
- 1970s: Annie #398, Sutton #7145 — Annie higher
- 1980s: Annie #303, Sutton #9213 — Annie higher
- 1990s: Annie #325, Sutton #7021 — Annie higher
- 2000s: Annie #362, Sutton #3882 — Annie higher
- 2010s: Annie #333, Sutton #1125 — Annie higher
- 2020s: Annie #217, Sutton #228 — Annie higher
Annie stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Annie | Sutton |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #11 | — |
| 1890s | #17 | — |
| 1900s | #17 | — |
| 1910s | #31 | — |
| 1920s | #34 | — |
| 1930s | #43 | — |
| 1940s | #79 | — |
| 1950s | #157 | — |
| 1960s | #299 | #4375 |
| 1970s | #398 | #7145 |
| 1980s | #303 | #9213 |
| 1990s | #325 | #7021 |
| 2000s | #362 | #3882 |
| 2010s | #333 | #1125 |
| 2020s | #217 | #228 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Annie
- Scotland#94
Sutton
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Annie
favor, grace
The Hebrew name behind it means favor or grace, and the chain from that to this form runs through Greek and Latin and French. The sense passes through unchanged at every stage.
Hannah → Anne → Annie
How it traveled
The woman at the far end of that chain does something in the text that nobody else does. She goes to the sanctuary, childless and desperate, and prays — silently, moving her lips without sound, which was unusual enough that the priest watching assumes she is drunk and tells her to go and sober up.
Sutton
southern farmstead or settlement
From Old English sūth (south) and tūn (enclosure, farmstead, village) — the same tūn that ended up as the modern word town.
sūth tūn (Old English) → Sutton (English place name) → Sutton (English surname) → Sutton (given name)
How it traveled
Sutton is one of the most-repeated place names in England, because it described something ordinary: the farm or hamlet lying to the south of somewhere else. Dozens of separate villages carried it by the time of the Domesday survey in the eleventh century, and families who left those villages were identified by them, which is why the surname arose independently in many unconnected lines.
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
Annie
ANN-ee
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The spelling is entirely unambiguous and nobody has ever needed to be told how to say it.
- Ann — The name without its ending; a complete name in its own right.
- Nan — An old rebracketed form; warm and now rather rare.
Sutton
SUT-un
Stress on the first syllable. In most American speech the double t becomes a light tap, close to SUH-tun; the spelling gives no trouble either way.
- Sutt — Informal clipped form used within families and among friends; not established as a name on its own.
- Sutty — Affectionate childhood form; rarely survives into adulthood.
Who has carried each name
Annie
Annie Oakley (b. 1860) — Sharpshooting star of the Wild West shows
Annie Leibovitz (b. 1949) — Era-defining celebrity photographer
Annie Jump Cannon (b. 1863) — Astronomer who classified hundreds of thousands of stars
Sutton
Sutton Foster (b. 1975) — Two-time Tony-winning Broadway star
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 Annie if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooAnnie is on the national lists of Scotland
- a long American recordAnnie was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 56% for Sutton
Choose Sutton if you want…
- a name on the way upup 142 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalSutton entered the US charts in 1963
- a name that feels very nowSutton is climbing the charts fast
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
Annie
Strengths
- It is short, warm and instantly familiar in every English-speaking country.
- It is currently returning after a long absence, so it reads as neither dated nor new.
- The meaning is simple, positive and easy to explain.
To consider
- It reads as a short form to some people even when it is the legal name.
- A musical and a comic strip both carry the name prominently.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Sutton
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and sounds the way it is spelled — no correcting needed at a coffee counter or a doctor's office.
- A spelling already familiar from maps, surnames and roadside signs, so it reads as a real name rather than an invention.
- Documented in English continuously since before the Norman Conquest, first as a place, then a surname, now a given name.
To consider
- It is climbing quickly, and quickly is the operative word: a name that feels distinctive at birth can be noticeably more familiar by the time a child reaches school. Worth knowing now rather than being surprised by later.
- Surname-names get read as surnames. Expect forms filled in the wrong order, and roll calls that reach for a first name that isn't there.
- The girls' side is currently the busier one, so a boy named Sutton may meet the occasional assumption in the other direction — easily corrected, but it will happen.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Annie
12%chance Annie feels dated by 2040
Annie 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.
Sutton
56%chance Sutton feels dated by 2040
Sutton 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 Annie and Sutton 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 Annie and Sutton?
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 Annie and Sutton — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Annie or Sutton — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Annie or Sutton?
- Sutton, in 2025: Sutton ranked #181 with 1,697 babies; Annie ranked #182 with 1,690 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Annie or Sutton?
- Sutton. Over the last five years Annie moved up 107 places; Sutton moved up 142 places.
- Which is the older name, Annie or Sutton?
- Annie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Sutton entered the US charts in 1963. On the American record, Annie is the older name.
- How many people are named Annie and Sutton?
- About 116,000 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,500 people named Sutton are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Annies or Suttons in the classroom?
- Annie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sutton 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 Annie, Sutton 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