Head to head · Boys' names
Aries vs Azrael
#661 vs #656 in 2025 · Latin vs Hebrew roots · both climbing the charts fast
Azrael is a whisker ahead (#656 vs #661 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Azrael leads 4 measures of 6; Aries 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
- 1970s: Aries #3544, Azrael — — Aries higher
- 1980s: Aries #4197, Azrael — — Aries higher
- 1990s: Aries #3209, Azrael #8458 — Aries higher
- 2000s: Aries #1647, Azrael #4798 — Aries higher
- 2010s: Aries #1248, Azrael #2044 — Aries higher
- 2020s: Aries #802, Azrael #762 — Azrael higher
Aries stood higher in 5 of 6 decades; Azrael took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Aries | Azrael |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | #3544 | — |
| 1980s | #4197 | — |
| 1990s | #3209 | #8458 |
| 2000s | #1647 | #4798 |
| 2010s | #1248 | #2044 |
| 2020s | #802 | #762 |
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
Aries
Latin for "ram" — the constellation and zodiac sign
Worth separating from Ares, the Greek god of war: the two names sound close and are often mixed up, but they come from different words in different languages.
aries (Latin, "ram") → Aries (constellation and zodiac sign) → Aries (given name)
How it traveled
Aries is simply the Latin noun for a ram, borrowed as the name of a constellation and kept there ever since. Greek tradition attached the star group to the golden-fleeced ram of the Argonaut story, and Ptolemy listed it in the second century among the constellations of the zodiac; Roman and later European astronomers passed the Latin name down unchanged.
Azrael
help of God
From the Hebrew elements ʿazar, "to help," and El, "God" — the same pair behind Azriel and Azarel, both of which appear as men's names in the Hebrew Bible.
ʿAzarʾel (Hebrew) → Azriel → Azra'il (Arabic) → Azrael
How it traveled
The name's bones are Hebrew, and its close relatives Azriel and Azarel are recorded in the biblical books of Jeremiah and Chronicles. The Azrael spelling traveled mainly through angelology: the Quran speaks of malak al-mawt, the angel of death, and later Islamic tradition names that angel Azra'il, a form still current as Azrail in Turkish.
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
Aries
AIR-eez
Two syllables in ordinary American English, the same way the zodiac sign is said. Some speakers say AR-eez or AY-reez, and Spanish speakers may give it three syllables, AH-ree-es.
- Ari — The usual short form in speech; also a standalone given name in its own right, reached from Ariel, Arie and Aristotle.
- Ry — Informal, family-level shortening drawn from the second syllable.
- Air — Playground-level clipping, rarely used in writing.
Azrael
AZ-ree-el
AZ-ray-el is also widely heard in the US, and the Turkish and Arabic forms end closer to -ah-EEL. Expect to state your preference more than once.
- Az — The everyday short form, used the way Azriel and Azzam are shortened too.
- Azzy — Informal and affectionate, common in the household and among young children.
- Rael — Takes the back half instead of the front; used as a standalone given name in some Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking places.
- Ray — An anglicized handle drawn from the second syllable; also a long-established 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 Aries if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Aries from Azrael.
Choose Azrael if you want…
- a name on the way upup 272 places on the charts in five years
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
Aries
Strengths
- A spelling nearly everyone already knows from the zodiac, so it rarely needs to be spelled out letter by letter.
- Ari is a ready-made short form that already works as a name on its own.
- Reads and works in both English and Spanish, which matters in the states where it is most used.
To consider
- It will be confused with Ares, the Greek war god, in speech and in writing. Expect to correct the swapped vowels fairly often.
- The zodiac link is unavoidable: people will assume a late-March or April birthday, and may attach astrology-column ideas about "a typical Aries" to the child.
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying it is young. A boy named Aries is unlikely to meet another one, and adults may hear the name as new rather than familiar.
Azrael
Strengths
- Transparent, settled meaning — "help of God" — from elements a parent can point to in Hebrew.
- Exists in Arabic, Turkish, Hebrew and Indonesian forms, so the name is recognizable well beyond English.
- Ready-made short forms: Az and Azzy need no explaining.
To consider
- The angel-of-death association is the first thing many adults will think of, and some will say so out loud. It is not an obscure connection — it is the main route by which the word entered English.
- Popular culture has used it too: Azrael is Gargamel's cat in the Smurfs and a DC Comics character connected to Batman. Neither is unkind, but both may come up.
- Two live pronunciations, AZ-ree-el and AZ-ray-el, and a common misspelling as Azreal, with the vowels flipped.
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 Aries and Azrael 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
Where Aries and Azrael each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Aries or Azrael — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Aries or Azrael?
- Azrael, in 2025: Azrael ranked #656 with 421 babies; Aries ranked #661 with 417 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Aries or Azrael?
- Azrael. Over the last five years Aries moved up 225 places; Azrael moved up 272 places.
- Which is the older name, Aries or Azrael?
- Aries entered the US charts in 1970; Azrael entered the US charts in 1994. On the American record, Aries is the older name.
- How many people are named Aries and Azrael?
- About 4,700 people named Aries are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 3,200 people named Azrael are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ariess or Azraels in the classroom?
- Aries will almost certainly be the only one in school. Azrael 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
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