Head to head · Girls' names
Arlette vs Aubree
#494 vs #489 in 2025
Aubree is a whisker ahead (#489 vs #494 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Aubree is stepping back from its peak, Arlette is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Arlette 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
On the charts, Aubree leads 4 measures of 6; Arlette 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
- 1910s: Arlette #2948, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1920s: Arlette #1848, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1930s: Arlette #1676, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1940s: Arlette #1629, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1950s: Arlette #1714, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1960s: Arlette #1925, Aubree — — Arlette higher
- 1970s: Arlette #3747, Aubree #3325 — Aubree higher
- 1980s: Arlette #3890, Aubree #1441 — Aubree higher
- 1990s: Arlette #3064, Aubree #910 — Aubree higher
- 2000s: Arlette #1535, Aubree #546 — Aubree higher
- 2010s: Arlette #1355, Aubree #98 — Aubree higher
- 2020s: Arlette #776, Aubree #297 — Aubree higher
The decades split evenly, 6 each; Aubree has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arlette | Aubree |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #2948 | — |
| 1920s | #1848 | — |
| 1930s | #1676 | — |
| 1940s | #1629 | — |
| 1950s | #1714 | — |
| 1960s | #1925 | — |
| 1970s | #3747 | #3325 |
| 1980s | #3890 | #1441 |
| 1990s | #3064 | #910 |
| 2000s | #1535 | #546 |
| 2010s | #1355 | #98 |
| 2020s | #776 | #297 |
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
Arlette
Not established
The -ette part is not in doubt: it is the French diminutive suffix, the same one in Annette and Odette. The base is where scholars part ways — some read the Germanic element erl, 'nobleman', others hari, 'army'. Either way, the name reaches us as an affectionate small form of something older, and no single translation is agreed.
How it traveled
Arlette grew up in French, built the way French built dozens of women's names: an old Germanic stem clipped short and softened with -ette. French and Norman tradition attached the name to Herleva, the woman of Falaise who was the mother of William the Conqueror, which gives the name a medieval anchor even though the form itself belongs to later French.
Aubree
elf ruler, or elf power
From the Germanic elements alb 'elf' and ric 'power, ruler', joined in the old name Alberich. Aubree carries that meaning through Aubrey, of which it is a respelling.
Alberich → Auberi → Aubrey → Aubree
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic Alberich, borne by the dwarf-king who guards the Nibelung hoard in medieval German legend. Norman French wore it down to Auberi, and Norman speakers brought it to England after 1066, where it settled as Aubrey and stayed a man's name for centuries — you can still find it on English maps and surnames.
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
Arlette
ar-LET
Two syllables, stress on the second, final -e silent — as in Colette. Spanish-speaking families say it much the same way, with a lighter r. Occasionally heard as AR-let in English, with the stress pulled forward.
- Arly — The most common informal short form in English-speaking use.
- Arlie — Same sound, alternative spelling; also used on its own as a given name for boys and girls.
- Ari — Informal, popular with younger speakers; shared with Ariana, Arianna and Aria.
- Letty — Takes the second half instead of the first; a long-standing short form of Letitia too, so it may need explaining.
Aubree
AW-bree
Two syllables, stress on the first. Some speakers say OH-bree, closer to the French Aubry, but AW-bree is the standard American reading and the spelling encourages it.
- Bree — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Aubs — Casual, used among friends and family rather than on paper.
- Bri — An alternate spelling of the same short form; overlaps with Brianna and Briana.
- Bee — An affectionate household short form, rarely used outside the family.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Arlette if you want…
- a name on the way upup 557 places on the charts in five years
Choose Aubree if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAubree is stepping back from its peak
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
Arlette
Strengths
- Fits a spelling pattern Americans already read correctly: Colette, Juliette, Yvette. Most people get it right on the first attempt.
- Works in French, Spanish and Portuguese with barely a change, which matters in a bilingual family.
- Has ready-made short forms at both ends — Arly at the front, Letty at the back — without needing to be invented.
To consider
- It sits very close to Arlene, Arletta and Arlet, and gets mixed up with all three. Expect to spell it out — one l, two t's — over the phone for life.
- Currently gaining ground. A child named Arlette now will likely meet more Arlettes as she grows up than the present figures suggest.
- The -ette suffix was at its most fashionable in an earlier era of French names, so to some ears Arlette reads retro rather than new. That cuts both ways: it is also why it sounds settled rather than made-up.
Aubree
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, so a child rarely has to teach anyone how to say it.
- Comes with Bree ready-made — a short form that also works as a full given name on a resume or a nametag.
- Sits on a documented line running back through Norman French to Germanic Alberich, nearly a thousand years of continuous use.
To consider
- Aubrey is the spelling most people default to. Expect a lifetime of small corrections on forms, coffee cups and email addresses — manageable, but constant.
- The name's wave is recent and concentrated, so it reads as belonging to a particular slice of American childhood rather than to any generation before it.
- Aubrey is still used for men in Britain and in older American records. The -ee spelling reads as female in the US, but the parent name has two roads and someone will occasionally assume the other one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Arlette
58%chance Arlette feels dated by 2040
Arlette 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.
Aubree
74%chance Aubree feels dated by 2040
Aubree is coming down from a big peak (#53 in 2013). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Arlette and Aubree in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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Put both to the vote.
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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
- Names that fell out of the top 100 this century
- Names that belong entirely to the 2010s
- all guides
Where Arlette and Aubree each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arlette or Aubree — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arlette or Aubree?
- Aubree, in 2025: Aubree ranked #489 with 606 babies; Arlette ranked #494 with 600 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arlette or Aubree?
- Arlette. Over the last five years Arlette moved up 557 places; Aubree moved down 333 places.
- Which is the older name, Arlette or Aubree?
- Arlette entered the US charts in 1913; Aubree entered the US charts in 1972. On the American record, Arlette is the older name.
- How many people are named Arlette and Aubree?
- About 7,400 people named Arlette are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 49,000 people named Aubree are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arlettes or Aubrees in the classroom?
- Arlette will almost certainly be the only one in school. Aubree 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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