Head to head · Boys' names
Ari vs Augustus
#393 vs #407 in 2025
Ari is a whisker ahead (#393 vs #407 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ari is holding its place on the charts, Augustus is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Augustus 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
The tape is even: Ari and Augustus 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: Ari —, Augustus #213 — Augustus higher
- 1890s: Ari —, Augustus #258 — Augustus higher
- 1900s: Ari —, Augustus #341 — Augustus higher
- 1910s: Ari —, Augustus #414 — Augustus higher
- 1920s: Ari —, Augustus #494 — Augustus higher
- 1930s: Ari —, Augustus #570 — Augustus higher
- 1940s: Ari —, Augustus #650 — Augustus higher
- 1950s: Ari #2557, Augustus #794 — Augustus higher
- 1960s: Ari #1163, Augustus #971 — Augustus higher
- 1970s: Ari #743, Augustus #1213 — Ari higher
- 1980s: Ari #809, Augustus #1376 — Ari higher
- 1990s: Ari #829, Augustus #923 — Ari higher
- 2000s: Ari #651, Augustus #835 — Ari higher
- 2010s: Ari #427, Augustus #574 — Ari higher
- 2020s: Ari #366, Augustus #454 — Ari higher
Augustus stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Ari has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ari | Augustus |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #213 |
| 1890s | — | #258 |
| 1900s | — | #341 |
| 1910s | — | #414 |
| 1920s | — | #494 |
| 1930s | — | #570 |
| 1940s | — | #650 |
| 1950s | #2557 | #794 |
| 1960s | #1163 | #971 |
| 1970s | #743 | #1213 |
| 1980s | #809 | #1376 |
| 1990s | #829 | #923 |
| 2000s | #651 | #835 |
| 2010s | #427 | #574 |
| 2020s | #366 | #454 |
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
Ari
'Lion' in Hebrew; 'eagle' in Old Norse
These are not rival guesses about one name but genuinely separate names that met at one spelling. Hebrew ari (a short form of Aryeh) means lion, and that is the reading behind most American Aris. Old Norse ari is a poetic word for eagle, the source of the Icelandic name. In Greek, Ari is a clipping of names built on the ari- element found in Aristotle and Ariadne. In Finland it has long been used as an independent given name in its own right.
Aryeh → Ari
How it traveled
The Hebrew road is the oldest and the busiest: Aryeh, lion, is a name and a word carried through the Hebrew Bible and rabbinic writing, with Ari as its everyday short form, and it traveled with Jewish families to English-speaking countries. The Norse road runs separately — Ari Þorgilsson, the Icelandic priest who compiled Íslendingabók in the twelfth century, is the earliest famous bearer, and Ari has stayed in ordinary use in Iceland ever since.
Augustus
Great, venerable, majestic
From the Latin adjective augustus, connected to the verb augere, 'to increase'. It was a word of solemn respect long before it was anyone's name.
augustus (Latin: venerable) → Augustus → Augustinus → Augustine → August
How it traveled
Octavian, the adopted heir of Julius Caesar, was granted the title Augustus by the Roman Senate in 27 BC; it stuck to him so completely that history calls him nothing else, and his successors took it as part of the imperial style. From the title came the personal name, and from the personal name came a whole family: Augustinus, the diminutive, which gave English Augustine and the plainer August.
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
Ari
AR-ee
AR-ee, with the first syllable as in 'are', is the Hebrew and Icelandic pronunciation and the usual American one. Some families who reach the name through Ariel or Ariana say AIR-ee instead. Both are in real use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
Augustus
uh-GUS-tus
Also said aw-GUS-tus, with the stress always on the middle syllable. Both are standard in American English and neither needs correcting.
- Gus — The default short form for centuries; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Auggie — Also spelled Augie. Common in childhood and among younger bearers.
- August — Used as a semi-formal middle ground, and independently popular as a full name.
- Gussie — An older, more affectionate diminutive, familiar mainly from nineteenth- and early twentieth-century use.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ari if you want…
- a name most people already know#393 in 2025, 808 babies that year
- a name holding steadyAri is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesAri is 2 syllables to Augustus's 3
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Ari
Choose Augustus if you want…
- a name fewer children share#407 in 2025 — augustus will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 92 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAugustus runs 3 syllables, Ari 2
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Gus, Auggie and August
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
Ari
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and readable at a glance in English, Hebrew, Finnish and Icelandic — a rare thing for a name with roots in that many places.
- Works as a full given name or as the short form of Ariel, Arielle, Ariana, Aryeh or Aristotle, so a longer formal name remains an option.
- A documented record stretching from the Hebrew Bible's word for lion to a twelfth-century Icelandic chronicler and into ordinary modern use.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, AR-ee and AIR-ee, and near neighbors in Ari, Arie, Ary and Aria. Expect to say which one you mean fairly often, especially on the phone.
- Recorded for both boys and girls without settling, and leaning to boys. A girl named Ari may be assumed male on paper more often than the reverse, which some families mind and others do not.
- People often ask what it is short for. Given on its own it is complete, and has been for centuries — but the question will come up.
Augustus
Strengths
- Two thousand years of continuous documented use, from Roman inscriptions to current birth records — it has never needed reintroducing.
- Ready-made short forms in real use: Gus, Auggie, August, each sounding quite different from the others.
- Recognized across German, French, Italian, Spanish and Polish in barely altered spellings, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- Four syllables is a lot of name for a small person, and in practice most Augustuses spend childhood as Gus or Auggie. If you dislike both, the full form alone may be a harder sell than you expect.
- Roald Dahl's Augustus Gloop is a well-known association for anyone raised on Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The Fault in Our Stars gave the name a very different young bearer, Augustus Waters, which now competes for the same mental space.
- It sits close to August and Augustine, and people will sometimes reach for the wrong one — expect to clarify which name is on the birth certificate.
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 Ari and Augustus 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 Ari and Augustus?
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 these names appear on
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Borrowed from the girls: names boys are taking back
- Modern Hebrew names beyond the Bible
- Soft-sounding names built on liquid letters
- all guides
Where Ari and Augustus each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ari or Augustus — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ari or Augustus?
- Ari, in 2025: Ari ranked #393 with 808 babies; Augustus ranked #407 with 783 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ari or Augustus?
- Augustus. Over the last five years Ari moved down 1 place; Augustus moved up 92 places.
- Which is the older name, Ari or Augustus?
- Ari entered the US charts in 1958; Augustus was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Augustus is the older name.
- How many people are named Ari and Augustus?
- About 20,000 people named Ari are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 15,500 people named Augustus are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aris or Augustuss in the classroom?
- Ari will almost certainly be the only one in school. Augustus 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 Ari, Augustus 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