Head to head · Girls' names
Audrey vs Maria
#86 vs #87 in 2025
Audrey is a whisker ahead (#86 vs #87 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Audrey is stepping back from its peak, Maria is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Maria 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, Maria leads 4 measures of 6; Audrey 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: Audrey #444, Maria #137 — Maria higher
- 1890s: Audrey #285, Maria #149 — Maria higher
- 1900s: Audrey #190, Maria #143 — Maria higher
- 1910s: Audrey #133, Maria #140 — Audrey higher
- 1920s: Audrey #76, Maria #119 — Audrey higher
- 1930s: Audrey #72, Maria #116 — Audrey higher
- 1940s: Audrey #138, Maria #90 — Maria higher
- 1950s: Audrey #158, Maria #69 — Maria higher
- 1960s: Audrey #194, Maria #46 — Maria higher
- 1970s: Audrey #252, Maria #34 — Maria higher
- 1980s: Audrey #186, Maria #48 — Maria higher
- 1990s: Audrey #159, Maria #43 — Maria higher
- 2000s: Audrey #78, Maria #48 — Maria higher
- 2010s: Audrey #42, Maria #106 — Audrey higher
- 2020s: Audrey #72, Maria #91 — Audrey higher
Maria stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Audrey has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Audrey | Maria |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #444 | #137 |
| 1890s | #285 | #149 |
| 1900s | #190 | #143 |
| 1910s | #133 | #140 |
| 1920s | #76 | #119 |
| 1930s | #72 | #116 |
| 1940s | #138 | #90 |
| 1950s | #158 | #69 |
| 1960s | #194 | #46 |
| 1970s | #252 | #34 |
| 1980s | #186 | #48 |
| 1990s | #159 | #43 |
| 2000s | #78 | #48 |
| 2010s | #42 | #106 |
| 2020s | #72 | #91 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Audrey
- Canada#59
Maria
- France#60
- Canada#72
- England & Wales#91
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Audrey
noble strength
The Old English original joins a word for noble to one for strength. The modern form preserves almost none of the letters, which is a large part of why it survived.
Aethelthryth → Etheldreda → Audrey
How it traveled
The woman behind it made two political marriages and kept out of both. Aethelthryth was a princess of East Anglia, married first to a local king and then to a much younger Northumbrian one, and by her own account and her biographer's she remained a virgin through both; when the second husband changed his mind about the arrangement, she left, walked to Ely, and founded a monastery on land she had been given as a marriage settlement.
Maria
Uncertain; the leading readings are 'beloved' and 'bitter'
Maria descends from Hebrew Miryam, whose origin was already unclear to ancient commentators. Some scholars trace it to Egyptian mry, 'beloved', which fits a name borne in a period of Egyptian influence; an older tradition read it through Hebrew mar, 'bitter'. The familiar 'star of the sea' gloss comes from a medieval Latin reading of the name as stella maris and is not an etymology of the Hebrew.
Miryam → Mariam → Maria → Marie → Mary
How it traveled
The name begins as Miryam in the Hebrew Bible, borne by the sister of Moses. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated those scriptures into Greek, they wrote it Mariam, and Greek and Latin writers settled on Maria — the spelling the Latin New Testament carried into every corner of the Roman world.
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
Audrey
AW-dree
Two syllables with the weight at the front. French says it the same way, which is unusual for a name that crosses the Channel.
- Aud — Cut to one syllable; used inside families, and shared with the Norse name Audr.
- Dree — Cut from the back; a modern informal form.
- Auds — A modern informal form used among friends.
Maria
muh-REE-uh
Spanish and Italian speakers say mah-REE-ah, with a cleaner first vowel and a trilled or tapped r. An older English pronunciation, muh-RY-uh, survives in some hymn and song traditions and in a few families, so it is worth stating your preference once and letting it settle.
- Mia — Informal short form and, for a long time now, a fully independent given name in its own right.
- Ria — Informal; common in Dutch, German and Indonesian usage, and used on its own as a given name in several countries.
- Mari — Informal in English-speaking families; a standard given name in Welsh, Norwegian and Japanese, where it has separate roots.
- Masha — The standard Russian familiar form of Mariya, used within families and among friends rather than formally.
- Also Maruja, Mimi.
Who has carried each name
Audrey
Audrey Hepburn (b. 1929) — Breakfast at Tiffany's icon and devoted UNICEF ambassador
Audrey Tautou (b. 1976) — Star of the beloved French film Amélie
Maria
Maria Montessori (b. 1870) — Physician who created the Montessori method of education
Maria Callas (b. 1923) — The century's most famous opera diva
Maria Goeppert Mayer (b. 1906) — Nobel Prize-winning physicist
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 Audrey if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAudrey is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAudrey is 2 syllables to Maria's 3
- a newer arrivalAudrey entered the US charts in 1881
- a name that feels very nowAudrey is stepping back from its peak
Choose Maria if you want…
- a name on the way upup 22 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMaria runs 3 syllables, Audrey 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Mia, Ria and Mari
- a name that charts abroad tooMaria is on the national lists of France, Canada and England & Wales
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
Audrey
Strengths
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing in English and in French.
- It has a documented English history reaching back to the seventh century.
- It is short, has no silent letters and needs no explanation.
To consider
- The word tawdry comes from this name, and someone will eventually mention it.
- It is currently very popular, so a child may share it with others.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
Maria
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and German — no explaining, no correcting, in most of the languages a family is likely to meet.
- Currently charts in France, Canada and England and Wales as well as the United States, so it travels without becoming a foreign name anywhere.
- Two thousand years of unbroken written use, and it still turns up on class lists — long history without feeling like a costume.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate in English, muh-REE-uh and the older muh-RY-uh. Most people will default to the first, but expect to correct the occasional stranger either way.
- The link to the Virgin Mary is direct and unmistakable, which many families want and some would rather avoid. It is not a connotation the name can shed.
- In Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families the name is so widespread, often in compounds like María José, that there may already be a Maria or two among the relatives.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Audrey
78%chance Audrey feels dated by 2040
Audrey is coming down from a big peak (#33 in 2013). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Maria
12%chance Maria feels dated by 2040
Maria has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Audrey and Maria 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 Audrey and Maria?
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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 Audrey and Maria — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Audrey or Maria — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Audrey or Maria?
- Audrey, in 2025: Audrey ranked #86 with 2,919 babies; Maria ranked #87 with 2,887 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Audrey or Maria?
- Maria. Over the last five years Audrey moved down 26 places; Maria moved up 22 places.
- Which is the older name, Audrey or Maria?
- Audrey entered the US charts in 1881; Maria was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Maria is the older name.
- How many people are named Audrey and Maria?
- About 213,000 people named Audrey are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 470,000 people named Maria are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Audreys or Marias in the classroom?
- Audrey will almost certainly be the only one in school. Maria 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
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