Head to head · Girls' names
Athena vs Juliette
#109 vs #110 in 2025
Athena is a whisker ahead (#109 vs #110 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Athena is holding its place on the charts, Juliette is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Juliette 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, Athena leads 4 measures of 6; Juliette 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
- 1880s: Athena —, Juliette #794 — Juliette higher
- 1890s: Athena —, Juliette #749 — Juliette higher
- 1900s: Athena #1826, Juliette #638 — Juliette higher
- 1910s: Athena #1536, Juliette #540 — Juliette higher
- 1920s: Athena #1202, Juliette #590 — Juliette higher
- 1930s: Athena #1658, Juliette #685 — Juliette higher
- 1940s: Athena #2015, Juliette #807 — Juliette higher
- 1950s: Athena #1415, Juliette #957 — Juliette higher
- 1960s: Athena #835, Juliette #970 — Athena higher
- 1970s: Athena #638, Juliette #1080 — Athena higher
- 1980s: Athena #643, Juliette #1236 — Athena higher
- 1990s: Athena #703, Juliette #1007 — Athena higher
- 2000s: Athena #483, Juliette #608 — Athena higher
- 2010s: Athena #198, Juliette #261 — Athena higher
- 2020s: Athena #93, Juliette #154 — Athena higher
Juliette stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Athena has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Athena | Juliette |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #794 |
| 1890s | — | #749 |
| 1900s | #1826 | #638 |
| 1910s | #1536 | #540 |
| 1920s | #1202 | #590 |
| 1930s | #1658 | #685 |
| 1940s | #2015 | #807 |
| 1950s | #1415 | #957 |
| 1960s | #835 | #970 |
| 1970s | #638 | #1080 |
| 1980s | #643 | #1236 |
| 1990s | #703 | #1007 |
| 2000s | #483 | #608 |
| 2010s | #198 | #261 |
| 2020s | #93 | #154 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Athena
- Canada#82
- England & Wales#96
Juliette
- France#28
- Canada#62
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Athena
Not established
The name is older than Greek etymology can reach. It appears in Mycenaean Linear B tablets from Knossos as a-ta-na-po-ti-ni-ja, and scholars have never settled whether the goddess was named for the city of Athens or the city for the goddess — most now treat both as pre-Greek, from a language spoken in the region before Greek arrived. Plato's dialogue Cratylus offers an ancient guess, reading it as 'divine mind', but that is Greek speculation about an already-old word rather than a recovered origin. What is documented is the role, not the root: Athena as goddess of wisdom, craft, weaving and strategy in war.
a-ta-na (Mycenaean Greek, Linear B) → Athana (Doric Greek) → Athēnē / Athēnaia (Attic Greek) → Athena (Latin) → Athena (English)
How it traveled
Athena belonged first to Bronze Age Greece, named on clay tablets before Homer, and the Iliad and Odyssey give her the standing epithet glaukopis — bright-eyed, or owl-eyed, which is why the owl became hers. Athens took her as its patron, struck her on its coins, and built the Parthenon on the hill above the city for her.
Juliette
from the Roman family name Julius
Juliette is a French diminutive of Julie, from Latin Julia, the feminine of the Roman clan name Iulius. What Iulius itself meant is not settled: the two long-standing readings connect it to Jupiter (Jove), and to a Greek word for soft down, in the sense of youth. Both are old proposals, and neither has won.
Iulia → Julia → Julie → Juliette
How it traveled
The name begins with the gens Iulia, one of Rome's old patrician families, which gave Latin the feminine Iulia. French shortened Julia to Julie and then added the affectionate ending -ette, a pattern French uses freely.
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
Athena
uh-THEE-nuh
Standard in English. Greek speakers say it ah-thee-NAH, with the stress on the last syllable — worth knowing if there is Greek family involved, since both are correct in their own language.
- Thena — The most-used short form in English, informal and family-level; it does not stand alone as a given name.
- Attie — Informal, spelled Attie or Atty; shares its sound with short forms of Atticus and Matilda.
- Tina — Taken from the middle of the name; a long-established given name in its own right, common among older generations.
- Athie — Informal and mostly household use; the 'th' keeps it clearly tied to the full name.
Juliette
joo-lee-ET
Stress lands on the last syllable in both English and French. The French pronunciation is closer to zhoo-lee-ET, with a soft opening consonant like the s in measure.
- Jules — The most common informal short form in English; also stands alone as a given name, and in French it is a man's name in its own right.
- Julie — Doubles as the parent form of the name and as a nickname; strongly represented among older generations as a full given name.
- Etta — Taken from the ending; used independently as a given name too.
- Juju — Household nickname, mostly used with small children.
- Also Lettie, Jet.
Who has carried each name
Athena
No documented entry for Athena yet.
Juliette
Juliette Binoche (b. 1964) — Oscar winner for The English Patient
Juliette Lewis (b. 1973) — Oscar-nominated actress turned rock frontwoman
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 Athena if you want…
- a name holding steadyAthena is holding its place on the charts
Choose Juliette if you want…
- a name on the way upup 70 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Jules, Julie and Etta
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
Athena
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and recognized on sight across Europe and the Americas thanks to the goddess — very little correcting to do.
- A documented written record stretching from Bronze Age clay tablets to today, unbroken and never reinvented.
- Charts in Canada and England and Wales as well as the US, so it travels without becoming a different name.
To consider
- The mythology comes with it. Every school unit on ancient Greece, every owl joke, every 'goddess of wisdom' remark — most children take this in stride, but it is a lifetime of the same three comments.
- English and Greek stress the name differently, uh-THEE-nuh against ah-thee-NAH, and a Greek-speaking family may also prefer the spelling Athina. Worth agreeing on early.
- It is far more common among children now than among adults, so some people will hear it as a new name and others as a very old one. Both are right.
Juliette
Strengths
- Recognized in English and French alike, and currently charting in both France and Canada, so it crosses borders without needing to be respelled.
- A documented line back to Roman Latin, in continuous use in American records since the nineteenth century.
- Several short forms already in circulation — Jules, Julie, Etta — so the child has options without anyone inventing one.
To consider
- Juliet, Juliette and Julietta all exist, and so do Julia and Julie. Expect to spell it often, and expect to correct the occasional Julia.
- The Romeo and Juliet association arrives with the name for life. For most people it reads as romantic rather than tragic, but it is a story that ends badly, and someone will mention it.
- It is climbing steadily right now, so a child born this year may meet more Juliettes at school than the current numbers suggest.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Athena
40%chance Athena feels dated by 2040
Athena 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.
Juliette
55%chance Juliette feels dated by 2040
Juliette 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 Athena and Juliette 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 Athena and Juliette?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Athena and Juliette — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Athena or Juliette — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Athena or Juliette?
- Athena, in 2025: Athena ranked #109 with 2,477 babies; Juliette ranked #110 with 2,460 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Athena or Juliette?
- Juliette. Over the last five years Athena moved down 2 places; Juliette moved up 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Athena or Juliette?
- Athena entered the US charts in 1902; Juliette entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Juliette is the older name.
- How many people are named Athena and Juliette?
- About 51,500 people named Athena are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 36,000 people named Juliette are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Athenas or Juliettes in the classroom?
- Athena will almost certainly be the only one in school. Juliette 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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Athena, Juliette and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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