Head to head · Girls' names
Arlet vs Azaria
#642 vs #638 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Azaria is a whisker ahead (#638 vs #642 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
The tape is even: Arlet and Azaria 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
- 1910s: Arlet #4271, Azaria — — Arlet higher
- 1920s: Arlet #4251, Azaria — — Arlet higher
- 1960s: Arlet #6804, Azaria — — Arlet higher
- 1980s: Arlet #9368, Azaria #6894 — Azaria higher
- 1990s: Arlet #8206, Azaria #2653 — Azaria higher
- 2000s: Arlet #3827, Azaria #1099 — Azaria higher
- 2010s: Arlet #3080, Azaria #945 — Azaria higher
- 2020s: Arlet #946, Azaria #837 — Azaria higher
Azaria stood higher in 5 of 8 decades; Azaria has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arlet | Azaria |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #4271 | — |
| 1920s | #4251 | — |
| 1960s | #6804 | — |
| 1980s | #9368 | #6894 |
| 1990s | #8206 | #2653 |
| 2000s | #3827 | #1099 |
| 2010s | #3080 | #945 |
| 2020s | #946 | #837 |
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
Arlet
Most often traced to Germanic name elements through French Arlette; no single translation is agreed
The main reading takes Arlet as a form of French Arlette, itself a diminutive of the medieval Norman name Herleva, built from Old Germanic elements usually read as 'nobleman' or 'army'. A competing view treats the -et(te) ending as the ordinary French diminutive suffix attached to a shortened Charl-/Carl- name, which would make it a cousin of Charlotte and Carlota rather than a descendant of Herleva.
Herleva → Arlette → Arlet
How it traveled
The older half of the story is Norman: Herleva, a name recorded in eleventh-century Normandy, softened over the centuries into the French Arlette. Arlette stayed in steady French use into the twentieth century and traveled outward from there, giving Italian Arletta, Portuguese Arlete and the Spanish spellings Arlet and Arleth, which drop the French double consonant and final -e.
Azaria
God has helped
From Hebrew ʿazar, "to help," joined to Yah, a short form of the divine name — the same construction behind Azariah.
Azaryah → Azarias → Azariah → Azaria
How it traveled
The parent name is Hebrew Azaryah, borne in the Hebrew Bible by more than twenty men, among them the young exile in the book of Daniel whose Babylonian name was Abednego, and a king of Judah. Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures rendered it Azarias, and from there it passed into Latin and into English Bibles as Azariah, where it was picked up by Puritan and later Protestant families who preferred scriptural names to saints' names.
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
Arlet
ar-LET
Spanish and Catalan speakers stress the second syllable: ar-LET. English speakers often move the stress forward to AR-let, which is the same pattern that turns Michelle into MISH-elle in casual American speech. Both are in real use, and families usually settle on one early.
- Ari — The most portable short form, shared with Ariana, Arielle and Ariadne; used informally and occasionally registered on its own.
- Leti — Informal, drawn from the second syllable; overlaps with the short form of Leticia in Spanish-speaking families.
- Arli — Informal household spelling, also written Arly.
- Lettie — The English-facing option, an old short form for Arlette, Violet and Letitia alike.
Azaria
uh-ZAR-ee-uh
Four syllables with the stress on the second. Some families say ah-ZAHR-ee-uh with a broader middle vowel, closer to the Hebrew; both are in ordinary use and neither needs correcting.
- Zaria — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, with its own separate history.
- Ria — Informal, and an independent name in Dutch, German and Indian usage.
- Azzy — Playground and family-level informal, sometimes spelled Azi.
- Zia — Informal; used as a full given name elsewhere too.
- Also Ari, Az.
One short form, two names
- Arlet and Azaria both shorten to Ari.
Short forms as recorded on each name’s own page. This is here so it is a decision rather than a discovery.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Arlet if you want…
- a name on the way upup 1,103 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesArlet is 2 syllables to Azaria's 4
Choose Azaria if you want…
- a name with more sound in itAzaria runs 4 syllables, Arlet 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Zaria, Ria and Azzy
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
Arlet
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in both English and Spanish — no silent letters, no double consonants to remember.
- Part of a documented international family: Arlette, Arleth, Arlete, Arletta, so relatives abroad will recognize it.
- Short enough to survive a form field, with Ari and Leti available as ready-made short forms.
To consider
- The stress is genuinely unsettled between ar-LET and AR-let. Teachers and receptionists will guess, and she will correct them for life — a small, permanent chore rather than a real problem.
- Arleth, Arlett and Arlette all exist alongside it, so expect to spell it out and to receive mail with an extra letter on the end.
- Said quickly in English, it can be heard as Scarlett minus the S, or as Arlene by ears expecting the older name.
Azaria
Strengths
- The meaning is transparent and undisputed — "God has helped" — which is unusual for a name this uncommon in the US.
- A documented line running from the Hebrew Bible through Greek and Latin into English, so the name is ancient even where the spelling is recent.
- Several short forms already in circulation — Zaria, Ria, Azzy, Zia — none of which had to be invented.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded neighborhood of similar spellings — Azariah, Azzaria, Zaria, Azalea — so expect to repeat and spell it, and expect the occasional Azariah on a form.
- In the Bible every bearer of the name is male, and Azariah is still given to boys in English. Azaria with the -a ending reads as a girl's name in US records, but the older form may prompt a question now and then.
- Stress can wander between uh-ZAR-ee-uh and ah-zah-REE-ah; deciding early which one your family uses saves some friction later.
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 Arlet and Azaria 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 Arlet and Azaria?
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.
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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 Arlet and Azaria — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arlet or Azaria — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arlet or Azaria?
- Azaria, in 2025: Azaria ranked #638 with 453 babies; Arlet ranked #642 with 450 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arlet or Azaria?
- Arlet. Over the last five years Arlet moved up 1,103 places; Azaria moved up 393 places.
- Which is the older name, Arlet or Azaria?
- Arlet entered the US charts in 1918; Azaria entered the US charts in 1988. On the American record, Arlet is the older name.
- How many people are named Arlet and Azaria?
- About 3,300 people named Arlet are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,500 people named Azaria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Do Arlet and Azaria share a nickname?
- Yes — both shorten to Ari, so in a house with both names the short form would not say which child is meant.
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 Arlet, Azaria and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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