Head to head · Boys' names
August vs Axel
#81 vs #79 in 2025
Axel is a whisker ahead (#79 vs #81 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Axel is holding its place on the charts, August is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, August 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, Axel leads 4 measures of 6; August 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
- 1880s: August #82, Axel #455 — August higher
- 1890s: August #105, Axel #491 — August higher
- 1900s: August #160, Axel #913 — August higher
- 1910s: August #182, Axel #1067 — August higher
- 1920s: August #245, Axel #1785 — August higher
- 1930s: August #309, Axel #2502 — August higher
- 1940s: August #400, Axel #2773 — August higher
- 1950s: August #541, Axel #2495 — August higher
- 1960s: August #693, Axel #2052 — August higher
- 1970s: August #812, Axel #2076 — August higher
- 1980s: August #850, Axel #1667 — August higher
- 1990s: August #731, Axel #878 — August higher
- 2000s: August #602, Axel #304 — Axel higher
- 2010s: August #263, Axel #132 — Axel higher
- 2020s: August #110, Axel #75 — Axel higher
August stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Axel has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | August | Axel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #82 | #455 |
| 1890s | #105 | #491 |
| 1900s | #160 | #913 |
| 1910s | #182 | #1067 |
| 1920s | #245 | #1785 |
| 1930s | #309 | #2502 |
| 1940s | #400 | #2773 |
| 1950s | #541 | #2495 |
| 1960s | #693 | #2052 |
| 1970s | #812 | #2076 |
| 1980s | #850 | #1667 |
| 1990s | #731 | #878 |
| 2000s | #602 | #304 |
| 2010s | #263 | #132 |
| 2020s | #110 | #75 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
August
Not charting outside the US.
Axel
- France#71
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
August
Venerable, majestic, exalted
From Latin augustus, an adjective of dignity connected to augere, 'to increase'. The eighth month takes its name from the same source.
augustus (Latin, 'venerable') → Augustus → August → Augusta
How it traveled
The Roman Senate granted Octavian the title Augustus in 27 BC, and the word — until then an adjective meaning venerable or consecrated — became a name and then an imperial style. Later emperors kept it, medieval clergy inherited it through saints named Augustine and Augustus, and continental Europe trimmed it down: German, Polish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian all settled on plain August.
Axel
Father of peace
The sense comes from the Hebrew name Avshalom, from av (father) and shalom (peace); Axel is what Nordic speech made of its Latin form, Absalon.
Avshalom → Absalom → Absalon → Axel
How it traveled
The line begins with the Hebrew Avshalom, carried into Europe through the Latin Bible as Absalom or Absalon. Medieval Denmark took it up in earnest — Absalon was a well-used ecclesiastical name there — and ordinary speech compressed it to Axel, which then spread across Sweden, Norway and Iceland as a name in its own right.
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
August
AW-gust
Stress lands on the first syllable, exactly as in the month. The English adjective 'august' stresses the second (aw-GUST), which occasionally causes a moment's hesitation from readers meeting the name in print. German speakers say ow-GOOST.
- Gus — The most established short form, shared with Augustus and Gustav, and long used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Auggie — Informal and mostly used with children; common in American families now.
- Augie — The older American spelling of the same nickname, more familiar to earlier generations.
- Gussie — An affectionate older form, used historically for both Augustus and Augusta.
Axel
AK-sel
Stress on the first syllable. Swedish and Danish speakers give the first vowel a broader AHK; French speakers say ahk-SEL with the weight at the end. All are readily understood in English.
- Ax — The usual informal clip; common among family and teammates rather than on paper.
- Axe — Same short form written out; used casually, and familiar as a sports or band nickname.
- Axl — A respelling of the full name rather than a nickname, and used as a standalone given name since the late twentieth century.
Who has carried each name
August
August Wilson (b. 1945) — Pulitzer-winning playwright of Fences
August Strindberg (b. 1849) — Father of modern Swedish drama
August Möbius (b. 1790) — The mathematician of the Möbius strip
Axel
No documented entry for Axel yet.
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 August if you want…
- a name on the way upup 74 places on the charts in five years
Choose Axel if you want…
- a name holding steadyAxel is holding its place on the charts
- a name that charts abroad tooAxel is on the national lists of France
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
August
Strengths
- A spelling nobody has to be taught — it appears on every calendar and needs no repeating over the phone.
- Two ready-made short forms with centuries of use behind them: Gus and Auggie.
- The same spelling works in German, Polish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian, so it travels without adjustment.
To consider
- It is a month, and people will ask whether the baby was born in it. Fine either way, but the question will come up more than once.
- The English word 'august' shifts its stress to the second syllable, so expect the occasional first-time mispronunciation from someone reading it rather than hearing it.
- For a girl, this exact spelling is heavily outnumbered by the boys, so forms and rosters will often assume a boy. Augusta and Augustine are the traditionally feminine relatives if that matters to you.
Axel
Strengths
- Spelled as it sounds and said as it looks — two syllables, no silent letters, nothing for a teacher to stumble over.
- Works unchanged in English, French, German, Dutch and Swedish, which matters for a family spanning more than one language.
- A documented record stretching from medieval Denmark to the present, so it is short and modern-sounding without being newly made.
To consider
- In American English it is a near-homophone of "axle," and the Ax short form carries the tool with it. Some children shrug this off; some will hear about it.
- The Axl spelling exists and is well known, so expect to confirm which one you mean fairly often.
- Its biblical namesake, Absalom, is remembered for rebelling against his father and dying badly — a distant connection, but one some readers will make.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 August and Axel 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 August and Axel?
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
- Distinctly American names
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both August and Axel — the same style, ranked by the same records.
August or Axel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, August or Axel?
- Axel, in 2025: Axel ranked #79 with 4,140 babies; August ranked #81 with 3,958 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, August or Axel?
- August. Over the last five years August moved up 74 places; Axel moved down 7 places.
- Which is the older name, August or Axel?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named August and Axel?
- About 48,000 people named August are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 70,500 people named Axel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Augusts or Axels in the classroom?
- August will almost certainly be the only one in school. Axel 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 August, Axel and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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