Head to head · Girls' names
Arlet vs Ellianna
#642 vs #642 in 2025
Arlet and Ellianna share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#642). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Arlet leads 3 measures of 6; Ellianna leads 1.
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, Ellianna — — Arlet higher
- 1920s: Arlet #4251, Ellianna — — Arlet higher
- 1960s: Arlet #6804, Ellianna — — Arlet higher
- 1980s: Arlet #9368, Ellianna — — Arlet higher
- 1990s: Arlet #8206, Ellianna #7644 — Ellianna higher
- 2000s: Arlet #3827, Ellianna #2417 — Ellianna higher
- 2010s: Arlet #3080, Ellianna #1036 — Ellianna higher
- 2020s: Arlet #946, Ellianna #655 — Ellianna higher
The decades split evenly, 4 each; Ellianna has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arlet | Ellianna |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #4271 | — |
| 1920s | #4251 | — |
| 1960s | #6804 | — |
| 1980s | #9368 | — |
| 1990s | #8206 | #7644 |
| 2000s | #3827 | #2417 |
| 2010s | #3080 | #1036 |
| 2020s | #946 | #655 |
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.
Ellianna
"God has answered me" in the Hebrew reading; "of the sun" in the Latin one
The parent name Eliana has two serious roots that never merged. In Hebrew, Eliana (אֱלִיעַנָּה) combines El, "God," with a verb of answering — "God has answered me." In Italian and Spanish, Eliana descends from the Roman family name Aelianus, itself linked to Greek helios, "sun." The doubled English spelling adds a third reading on the surface: Ella plus Anna, visible to anyone who looks at the written form.
Eliana → Elliana → Ellianna
How it traveled
Two separate names arrived at the same sound. One is Hebrew, built from El and a verb meaning to answer, and still used in Israel.
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.
Ellianna
el-ee-AH-nuh
Four syllables, stress on the third. Some families say el-ee-ANN-uh with a flatter middle vowel; both are in ordinary use, and the doubled letters change nothing about the sound.
- Ellie — The default short form, and a long-established given name in its own right across English-speaking countries.
- Ella — Sits inside the first half of the name and stands alone as a full given name.
- Anna — Drawn from the second half; formal enough to use on its own in adult life.
- Elli — A written variant of Ellie, informal, mostly family use.
- Also Lia.
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 Ellianna's 4
- a name that feels very nowArlet is climbing the charts fast
Choose Ellianna if you want…
- a name holding steadyEllianna is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itEllianna runs 4 syllables, Arlet 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 61% for Arlet
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.
Ellianna
Strengths
- Comes with three short forms that need no explanation — Ellie, Ella and Anna — each of which also works as a full name on a document.
- The underlying name Eliana is in everyday use in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and Hebrew, so the sound travels well beyond English.
- Familiar on first hearing: it sits in the same sound family as Ella, Ariana and Julia, so nobody has to ask twice what you said.
To consider
- The spelling is the real work. Eliana, Elliana, Elianna and Ellianna all exist side by side, and this version will be respelled by people who have met one of the others. Expect to spell it out often, and to correct forms and class lists.
- Two pronunciations circulate — el-ee-AH-nuh and el-ee-ANN-uh — so it helps to decide early which one you answer to.
- The full name is rare enough that a classroom is unlikely to hold two, but Ellie and Ella are widely used, so the nickname may well be shared even when the name is not.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Arlet
61%chance Arlet feels dated by 2040
Arlet 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.
Ellianna
40%chance Ellianna feels dated by 2040
Ellianna 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 Arlet and Ellianna 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 Ellianna?
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 Ellianna — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arlet or Ellianna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arlet or Ellianna?
- They tie in 2025: Arlet ranked #642 with 450 babies; Ellianna ranked #642 with 450 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arlet or Ellianna?
- Arlet. Over the last five years Arlet moved up 1,103 places; Ellianna moved up 40 places.
- Which is the older name, Arlet or Ellianna?
- Arlet entered the US charts in 1918; Ellianna entered the US charts in 1994. On the American record, Arlet is the older name.
- How many people are named Arlet and Ellianna?
- About 3,300 people named Arlet are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 6,200 people named Ellianna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arlets or Elliannas in the classroom?
- Arlet will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ellianna 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
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