Head to head · Girls' names
Annie vs Ximena
#182 vs #183 in 2025
Annie is a whisker ahead (#182 vs #183 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Annie is back after a long quiet spell, Ximena is stepping back from its peak.
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, Annie leads 6 measures of 6; Ximena 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: Annie #11, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1890s: Annie #17, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1900s: Annie #17, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1910s: Annie #31, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1920s: Annie #34, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1930s: Annie #43, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1940s: Annie #79, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1950s: Annie #157, Ximena — — Annie higher
- 1960s: Annie #299, Ximena #6564 — Annie higher
- 1970s: Annie #398, Ximena #6704 — Annie higher
- 1980s: Annie #303, Ximena #7815 — Annie higher
- 1990s: Annie #325, Ximena #3415 — Annie higher
- 2000s: Annie #362, Ximena #561 — Annie higher
- 2010s: Annie #333, Ximena #162 — Ximena higher
- 2020s: Annie #217, Ximena #155 — Ximena higher
Annie stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Ximena has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Annie | Ximena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #11 | — |
| 1890s | #17 | — |
| 1900s | #17 | — |
| 1910s | #31 | — |
| 1920s | #34 | — |
| 1930s | #43 | — |
| 1940s | #79 | — |
| 1950s | #157 | — |
| 1960s | #299 | #6564 |
| 1970s | #398 | #6704 |
| 1980s | #303 | #7815 |
| 1990s | #325 | #3415 |
| 2000s | #362 | #561 |
| 2010s | #333 | #162 |
| 2020s | #217 | #155 |
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
Ximena
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.
Ximena
Not settled — two serious candidates
Ximena is the feminine of the medieval Iberian name Ximeno. One reading takes Ximeno as an Iberian form of Simeon, the Hebrew name understood as 'he has heard'. The other traces it to Basque, connecting it with 'seme', son. Neither has won the argument, and the name is older than the evidence needed to settle it.
Ximeno → Ximena → Jimena → Chimène
How it traveled
The name grew up in medieval Spain, where Ximeno and Ximena were ordinary names among the Christian kingdoms of the north. Its most documented bearer is Jimena Díaz, wife of El Cid in the eleventh century; through the Cid legend she reached French theater as Chimène.
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.
Ximena
hee-MEH-nah
The x carries the old Spanish 'sh' sound that later became the j of Jimena, so in Spanish it sounds like an h. English speakers commonly reach for see-MEH-nah or zih-MEE-nah instead, and both are heard in the US. Worth deciding early which one your family answers to.
- Xime — The everyday short form in Mexico and much of Latin America; informal, used by family and friends, and rarely written on documents.
- Mena — Informal, taken from the end of the name; also stands alone as a name in a few traditions.
- Ximenita — Spanish affectionate diminutive, used mostly by relatives and mostly while a child is small.
- Jime — Informal short form used when the Jimena spelling is in play in the family.
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
Ximena
No documented entry for Ximena 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 Annie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 107 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesAnnie is 2 syllables to Ximena's 3
- 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
Choose Ximena if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsXimena is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itXimena runs 3 syllables, Annie 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Xime, Mena and Ximenita
- a newer arrivalXimena entered the US charts in 1966
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.
Ximena
Strengths
- Documented in Spain since the Middle Ages, with a named eleventh-century bearer and a place in the Cid legend — a long, unbroken record behind a name that feels current.
- Immediately readable in Spanish-speaking households, where Xime and Ximenita are ready-made short forms.
- Travels between languages with recognizable relatives: Jimena in Spain, Chimène in French.
To consider
- The x is the whole difficulty. Outside Spanish-speaking settings it will be read as an English x or a z, and correcting it politely becomes a lifelong small errand.
- Ximena and Jimena are the same name in two spellings, so mail, records and relatives may drift between them.
- Its US wave is recent, so most bearers are still children. A grown Ximena is uncommon here — which cuts both ways: little competition, and few models.
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.
Ximena
40%chance Ximena feels dated by 2040
Ximena 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 Annie and Ximena 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
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Southern charm: names the South loves best
- The top-10 club: every name that made it
- all guides
Where Annie and Ximena each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Annie or Ximena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Annie or Ximena?
- Annie, in 2025: Annie ranked #182 with 1,690 babies; Ximena ranked #183 with 1,686 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Annie or Ximena?
- Annie. Over the last five years Annie moved up 107 places; Ximena moved down 53 places.
- Which is the older name, Annie or Ximena?
- Annie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Ximena entered the US charts in 1966. On the American record, Annie is the older name.
- How many people are named Annie and Ximena?
- About 116,000 people named Annie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 39,500 people named Ximena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Annies or Ximenas in the classroom?
- Annie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ximena 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
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