Head to head · Girls' names
Arianna vs Maisie
#234 vs #233 in 2025
Maisie is a whisker ahead (#233 vs #234 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maisie is climbing the charts fast, Arianna 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, Maisie leads 4 measures of 6; Arianna 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
- 1890s: Arianna —, Maisie #1267 — Maisie higher
- 1900s: Arianna —, Maisie #1536 — Maisie higher
- 1910s: Arianna —, Maisie #1784 — Maisie higher
- 1920s: Arianna —, Maisie #1611 — Maisie higher
- 1930s: Arianna —, Maisie #2821 — Maisie higher
- 1940s: Arianna —, Maisie #4065 — Maisie higher
- 1950s: Arianna —, Maisie #5313 — Maisie higher
- 1960s: Arianna #3594, Maisie #6390 — Arianna higher
- 1970s: Arianna #2965, Maisie #5310 — Arianna higher
- 1980s: Arianna #999, Maisie #5122 — Arianna higher
- 1990s: Arianna #272, Maisie #2364 — Arianna higher
- 2000s: Arianna #87, Maisie #1800 — Arianna higher
- 2010s: Arianna #66, Maisie #911 — Arianna higher
- 2020s: Arianna #177, Maisie #324 — Arianna higher
The decades split evenly, 7 each; Arianna has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arianna | Maisie |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1267 |
| 1900s | — | #1536 |
| 1910s | — | #1784 |
| 1920s | — | #1611 |
| 1930s | — | #2821 |
| 1940s | — | #4065 |
| 1950s | — | #5313 |
| 1960s | #3594 | #6390 |
| 1970s | #2965 | #5310 |
| 1980s | #999 | #5122 |
| 1990s | #272 | #2364 |
| 2000s | #87 | #1800 |
| 2010s | #66 | #911 |
| 2020s | #177 | #324 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Arianna
Not charting outside the US.
Maisie
- Scotland#11
- England & Wales#44
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Arianna
most holy
From Greek Ariadne: the intensifier ari- joined to adnos, the Cretan form of hagnos, 'holy, pure'.
Ariadne → Ariadna → Arianna → Ariana
How it traveled
The name begins as Ariadne in Greek, borne in myth by the daughter of King Minos of Crete, and it passed into Latin and then into the Romance languages, softening as it went. Italian turned Ariadna into Arianna, French into Ariane, Spanish into Ariadna.
Maisie
pearl
Maisie inherits its meaning from Margaret, which comes from Greek margarites, 'pearl'. The nickname itself was never a word — it grew out of Mairead, the Gaelic form of Margaret, worn down in ordinary speech.
Margarites → Margaret → Mairead → Maisie
How it traveled
Margaret traveled far and wide in medieval Europe and picked up dozens of household forms; in Scotland and the Gaelic-speaking west it became Mairead, and from Mairead came Maisie and its older Scots cousin Mysie. For centuries it lived as a spoken pet name rather than a christening name, the sort of thing written in letters and not in registers.
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
Arianna
ar-ee-AH-nuh
The Italian-leaning ar-ee-AH-nuh and the flatter ar-ee-AN-uh (rhyming with Anna) are both in ordinary American use, and families often settle it by habit rather than rule.
- Ari — The most common short form in American use; also given on its own to both girls and boys.
- Aria — Informal clipping that doubles as a standalone given name in current use.
- Anna — Drawn from the middle of the name; a long-established given name in its own right.
- Ria — Informal, mostly family use; also a short form of Maria and Victoria.
- Also Annie.
Maisie
MAY-zee
The s sounds like a z. Occasionally read as MAY-see by people who have only seen it written; one correction usually settles it.
- Maise — Clipped spoken form; almost never written down.
- Mais — One-syllable version used within families rather than formally.
- Margaret — Not a nickname but the formal name behind it — some parents register Margaret and use Maisie every day, which gives a longer option later.
Who has carried each name
Arianna
Arianna Huffington (b. 1950) — Co-founded The Huffington Post
Maisie
Maisie Williams (b. 1997) — Game of Thrones' Arya Stark
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 Arianna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsArianna is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itArianna runs 4 syllables, Maisie 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Ari, Aria and Anna
- a name that feels very nowArianna is stepping back from its peak
Choose Maisie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 177 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMaisie is 2 syllables to Arianna's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooMaisie is on the national lists of Scotland and England & Wales
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 56% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Arianna
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
Arianna
Strengths
- Ari and Anna are both long-established short forms, so the name works at full length and in a single syllable without inventing anything.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, French and English, with a near-identical form waiting in each.
- A documented line back to Greek myth, kept alive on European opera stages since the early seventeenth century.
To consider
- Ariana, with one n, is equally current in the United States. Expect to spell it aloud fairly often, and to see the other version on the odd form and party invitation.
- The two pronunciations — ar-ee-AH-nuh and ar-ee-AN-uh — both sound entirely natural to American ears, so she will meet people who say it the other way and mean no harm by it.
- The Ari- opening is shared with Aria, Ariel and Ariella, so the short form Ari may not be hers alone in a given classroom.
Maisie
Strengths
- Short, spelled the way it sounds once the z-sound is known, and easy for a small child to say and write.
- Sits on top of Margaret, so it can honor a Margaret in the family while sounding nothing like her.
- In continuous use in Britain, so it is familiar rather than invented — a known name on both sides of the Atlantic.
To consider
- Maisy, Maizie and Mazie all exist, and one of them belongs to a very well-known picture-book mouse. Expect to spell it out fairly often.
- It is a diminutive by origin and stays informal in tone; there is no built-in longer version unless you register Margaret and use Maisie in daily life.
- The American wave is very recent, so most Maisies here are young children — there are few adult namesakes to point to yet, though Britain has had them for generations.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Arianna
77%chance Arianna feels dated by 2040
Arianna is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 2014). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Maisie
56%chance Maisie feels dated by 2040
Maisie 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 Arianna and Maisie 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
- Beloved classics quietly disappearing
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Seven-letter names, ranked by real use
- Names with a double letter
- all guides
Where Arianna and Maisie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arianna or Maisie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arianna or Maisie?
- Maisie, in 2025: Maisie ranked #233 with 1,328 babies; Arianna ranked #234 with 1,323 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arianna or Maisie?
- Maisie. Over the last five years Arianna moved down 110 places; Maisie moved up 177 places.
- Which is the older name, Arianna or Maisie?
- Arianna entered the US charts in 1963; Maisie entered the US charts in 1890. On the American record, Maisie is the older name.
- How many people are named Arianna and Maisie?
- About 103,000 people named Arianna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,000 people named Maisie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ariannas or Maisies in the classroom?
- Arianna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maisie 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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