Head to head · Girls' names
Aubrey vs Evangeline
#146 vs #147 in 2025
Aubrey is a whisker ahead (#146 vs #147 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Aubrey is stepping back from its peak, Evangeline is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Evangeline has the edge.
Each name in full: Aubrey · Evangeline
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, Aubrey leads 4 measures of 6; Evangeline 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
Aubrey — stepping back from its peak. About 132,000 people named Aubrey are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Evangeline — climbing the charts fast. About 29,500 people named Evangeline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Aubrey #1279, Evangeline #668 — Evangeline higher
- 1890s: Aubrey #1359, Evangeline #558 — Evangeline higher
- 1900s: Aubrey #1431, Evangeline #455 — Evangeline higher
- 1910s: Aubrey #1608, Evangeline #455 — Evangeline higher
- 1920s: Aubrey #1586, Evangeline #436 — Evangeline higher
- 1930s: Aubrey #1972, Evangeline #474 — Evangeline higher
- 1940s: Aubrey #3051, Evangeline #655 — Evangeline higher
- 1950s: Aubrey #3781, Evangeline #804 — Evangeline higher
- 1960s: Aubrey #4177, Evangeline #981 — Evangeline higher
- 1970s: Aubrey #1759, Evangeline #1368 — Evangeline higher
- 1980s: Aubrey #353, Evangeline #1972 — Aubrey higher
- 1990s: Aubrey #263, Evangeline #2010 — Aubrey higher
- 2000s: Aubrey #140, Evangeline #1215 — Aubrey higher
- 2010s: Aubrey #28, Evangeline #280 — Aubrey higher
- 2020s: Aubrey #97, Evangeline #215 — Aubrey higher
Evangeline stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Aubrey has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Aubrey | Evangeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1279 | #668 |
| 1890s | #1359 | #558 |
| 1900s | #1431 | #455 |
| 1910s | #1608 | #455 |
| 1920s | #1586 | #436 |
| 1930s | #1972 | #474 |
| 1940s | #3051 | #655 |
| 1950s | #3781 | #804 |
| 1960s | #4177 | #981 |
| 1970s | #1759 | #1368 |
| 1980s | #353 | #1972 |
| 1990s | #263 | #2010 |
| 2000s | #140 | #1215 |
| 2010s | #28 | #280 |
| 2020s | #97 | #215 |
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
Aubrey
elf ruler — from Germanic *alb* 'elf' and *rīc* 'power, ruler'
The underlying Germanic name is Alberich, the same name borne by the dwarf-king of the medieval German Nibelungenlied.
Alberich → Auberi → Aubrey
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic Alberich, built from *alb*, 'elf', and *rīc*, 'power' or 'ruler'. Old French speakers wore it down to Auberi, and the Normans carried that form into England after 1066, where it settled among the aristocracy and then hardened into the surnames Aubrey and Aubery.
Evangeline
bringer of good news
From Greek eu- "good" and angelma "message" — the same roots behind the word evangel, or gospel.
euangelion (Greek, "good news") → Evangelium (Latin) → Evangelia / Evangelos (Greek) → Evangelina → Evangeline
How it traveled
The parts are ancient Greek: eu- "good" joined to the word for message, the pair of them behind evangelium, the Latin word for gospel. The name Evangelia and its masculine partner Evangelos have been in steady use among Greek-speaking Christians for centuries.
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
Aubrey
AW-bree
Two syllables, stress on the first. The main hazard is not pronunciation but hearing: over the phone it is easily taken for Audrey, so a spelling often follows.
- Aubs — Informal, mostly among friends and family.
- Bree — Informal short form; also stands on its own as a given name.
- Aub — Clipped and casual, common in speech rather than writing.
- Rey — Informal; drawn from the second syllable and used as an independent name too.
Evangeline
ee-VAN-juh-leen
Stress on the second syllable. The ending goes both ways: some families say -leen, others -lin or -line. Both are established, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Evie — The most common informal short form in current American use; also given as a name on its own.
- Eva — Informal or formal; a long-established independent given name in many languages.
- Eve — A clean one-syllable option, and a standalone name with its own long history.
- Lina — Taken from the end of the name; used as a full given name in Arabic, German and Scandinavian contexts.
- Also Vangie, Angie.
Who has carried each name
Aubrey
Aubrey Plaza (b. 1984) — Deadpan queen of Parks and Recreation and The White Lotus
Evangeline
Evangeline Lilly (b. 1979) — Lost's Kate and Marvel's Wasp
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 Aubrey if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAubrey is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAubrey is 2 syllables to Evangeline's 4
- a name that feels very nowAubrey is stepping back from its peak
Choose Evangeline if you want…
- a name on the way upup 111 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEvangeline runs 4 syllables, Aubrey 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Evie, Eva and Eve
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 56% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 82% for Aubrey
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
Aubrey
Strengths
- A documented line running from Germanic Alberich through Norman French into English — nearly a thousand years of continuous use in one form or another.
- Spelled the way it sounds for an English speaker, and familiar enough that most people write it correctly on the first try.
- Well supplied with short forms already in use: Aubs, Bree, Aub, Rey.
To consider
- Audrey is the constant confusion — same rhythm, one letter apart in sound, and both in current use. Expect to repeat and spell it fairly often.
- The variants Aubree and Aubrie are both in circulation, so people who know the name may still guess the wrong spelling.
- In American records this is now overwhelmingly a girls' name, though its long history is male. A boy named Aubrey wears the older tradition, and will likely need to explain it.
Evangeline
Strengths
- An unusually deep bench of short forms — Evie, Eva, Eve, Lina — so the same child can have a formal name and an everyday one.
- Recognizable across languages: Greek Evangelia, Spanish and Italian Evangelina, French Évangéline all trace the same roots.
- Spelled the way it sounds once heard, and anchored by the familiar word evangel; most people will get it right on the second try.
To consider
- The wave is very recent and still building, so a child named Evangeline now will likely meet more of them over a lifetime than the current classroom suggests.
- Four syllables invites shortening, and the shortenings lead straight into Eva, Evie and Evelyn — a crowded corner of the girls' charts right now. You may hear her called by one of those far more than by her full name.
- The eu-angel root means "good news" in the gospel sense, and some Americans hear the word evangelical in it. That reads as a plus in some families and as a signal in others; it is worth knowing which one your circle hears.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Aubrey
82%chance Aubrey feels dated by 2040
Aubrey is coming down from a big peak (#15 in 2012). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Evangeline
56%chance Evangeline feels dated by 2040
Evangeline 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 Aubrey and Evangeline 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 Aubrey and Evangeline?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Aubrey and Evangeline — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Aubrey or Evangeline — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Aubrey or Evangeline?
- Aubrey, in 2025: Aubrey ranked #146 with 2,003 babies; Evangeline ranked #147 with 1,998 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Aubrey or Evangeline?
- Evangeline. Over the last five years Aubrey moved down 90 places; Evangeline moved up 111 places.
- Which is the older name, Aubrey or Evangeline?
- Aubrey entered the US charts in 1889; Evangeline entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Evangeline is the older name.
- How many people are named Aubrey and Evangeline?
- About 132,000 people named Aubrey are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,500 people named Evangeline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aubreys or Evangelines in the classroom?
- Aubrey will almost certainly be the only one in school. Evangeline 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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