Head to head · Girls' names
Aurora vs Ava
#15 vs #11 in 2025
Ava is a whisker ahead (#11 vs #15 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ava is stepping back from its peak, Aurora is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Aurora 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, Ava leads 4 measures of 6; Aurora 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: Aurora #725, Ava #394 — Ava higher
- 1890s: Aurora #781, Ava #403 — Ava higher
- 1900s: Aurora #614, Ava #464 — Ava higher
- 1910s: Aurora #493, Ava #479 — Ava higher
- 1920s: Aurora #370, Ava #565 — Aurora higher
- 1930s: Aurora #447, Ava #619 — Aurora higher
- 1940s: Aurora #537, Ava #702 — Aurora higher
- 1950s: Aurora #707, Ava #436 — Ava higher
- 1960s: Aurora #810, Ava #660 — Ava higher
- 1970s: Aurora #808, Ava #993 — Aurora higher
- 1980s: Aurora #774, Ava #1065 — Aurora higher
- 1990s: Aurora #629, Ava #682 — Aurora higher
- 2000s: Aurora #350, Ava #49 — Ava higher
- 2010s: Aurora #109, Ava #4 — Ava higher
- 2020s: Aurora #26, Ava #7 — Ava higher
Ava stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Ava has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Aurora | Ava |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #725 | #394 |
| 1890s | #781 | #403 |
| 1900s | #614 | #464 |
| 1910s | #493 | #479 |
| 1920s | #370 | #565 |
| 1930s | #447 | #619 |
| 1940s | #537 | #702 |
| 1950s | #707 | #436 |
| 1960s | #810 | #660 |
| 1970s | #808 | #993 |
| 1980s | #774 | #1065 |
| 1990s | #629 | #682 |
| 2000s | #350 | #49 |
| 2010s | #109 | #4 |
| 2020s | #26 | #7 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Aurora
- Canada#34
- England & Wales#43
- Scotland#45
Ava
- England & Wales#9
- Canada#10
- Scotland#13
- France#40
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Aurora
Dawn
Aurora is simply the Latin noun for dawn, and the name of the Roman dawn goddess, counterpart to the Greek Eos.
aurora (Latin, 'dawn') → Aurora (Roman goddess) → Aurora (given name in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese) → Aurora / Aurore (English, French)
How it traveled
The name comes straight from Latin, where aurora was the ordinary word for daybreak and also the name of a goddess in Roman religion and poetry. Because Latin remained the language of learning long after Rome, the word traveled forward intact: astronomers in the seventeenth century used aurora borealis for the polar lights, and the noun stayed recognizable in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, where Aurora became a standard given name.
Ava
Contested — most often read as a form of Eva, "life"
Three serious readings compete. Many treat Ava as a variant of Eva, from Hebrew Chavvah, "life." Others trace it to a medieval Germanic name Ava, recorded in Frankish and German sources, whose root is not established — sometimes linked to a Germanic element meaning something like "desired." A third reading connects it to Latin avis, "bird," though that one has the least support. Separately, Persian āvā means "voice" or "song," and the spelling coincides.
How it traveled
Ava has two roads into English, and they arrive at the same three letters. One is Germanic and medieval: Ava appears as a woman's name in Frankish and German records, including the twelfth-century poet, and its root meaning was already unclear to the scribes who wrote it.
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
Aurora
uh-ROR-uh
Also commonly aw-ROR-uh, with the first vowel like the 'aw' in law; both are standard in American English. Spanish and Italian speakers say ow-ROH-rah, with a tapped r.
- Rory — The most portable short form in English, and a given name in its own right for both girls and boys.
- Rora — Informal, family-level shortening taken from the middle of the name.
- Aura — Informal; also stands alone as a given name in Spanish and Italian.
- Auri — Informal, most often used with young children.
- Also Ro.
Ava
AY-vuh
In English the first vowel is long: AY-vuh. In German, Dutch, Italian and Persian the same spelling is said AH-vah, which is worth knowing in a multilingual family. Over the phone it is sometimes heard as Ada, Ana or Eva, so spelling it out saves a step.
- Avie — Informal, family-level; also spelled Avy. Rarely used in writing.
- Aves — Playground and sibling shorthand, spoken rather than written.
- Ava — Most bearers use the full name at every register — it is already about as short as a given name gets, and also serves as the short form for compounds like Ava-Grace or Ava-Rose.
Who has carried each name
Aurora
No documented entry for Aurora yet.
Ava
Ava Gardner (b. 1922) — Smoldering Golden Age star of The Barefoot Contessa
Ava Max (b. 1994) — Pop hitmaker behind "Sweet but Psycho"
Ava DuVernay (b. 1972) — First Black woman to direct a $100 million film (A Wrinkle in Time)
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 Aurora if you want…
- a name on the way upup 21 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAurora runs 3 syllables, Ava 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Rory, Rora and Aura
Choose Ava if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAva is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAva is 2 syllables to Aurora's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAva is on the national lists of England & Wales, Canada, Scotland and 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
Aurora
Strengths
- Spelled the same in English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, so it crosses those languages without adjustment or explanation.
- The meaning is transparent and easy to tell: dawn, from Latin, with no competing theories to sort out.
- Several established short forms already in use — Rory, Rora, Aura — including one that works as a full name on its own.
To consider
- The Disney princess is the strongest association for many Americans, and will likely come up at some point. It fades with age, but it is there early.
- Two r's and three syllables make it a mouthful for a toddler learning to say their own name, and the first vowel gets pronounced two different ways.
- The name is climbing quickly, so a child born now may meet more Auroras in later grades than the current picture suggests — though nothing like a classroom full.
Ava
Strengths
- Three letters, phonetic in English, and almost never misspelled once heard — a child can write it before starting school.
- Charts in England and Wales, Canada, Scotland and France as well as the United States, so it travels without translation.
- Present in American records since the earliest years of national name-keeping, so it is not a recent coinage even though its wave is recent.
To consider
- It is genuinely widespread among children right now: a classroom-mate or two with the same name is a realistic prospect, and a last initial often gets attached.
- Because its rise is so recent and so steep, the name reads as a marker of one particular generation — much as certain mid-century names do today.
- There is almost no shortening available. If you like having a formal name and a nickname, Ava gives you one register rather than two.
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 Aurora and Ava 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 Aurora and Ava?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- all guides
Every list here names both Aurora and Ava — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Aurora or Ava — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Aurora or Ava?
- Ava, in 2025: Ava ranked #11 with 7,732 babies; Aurora ranked #15 with 7,065 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Aurora or Ava?
- Aurora. Over the last five years Aurora moved up 21 places; Ava moved down 8 places.
- Which is the older name, Aurora or Ava?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Aurora and Ava?
- About 90,500 people named Aurora are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 335,000 people named Ava are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Auroras or Avas in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Aurora. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Ava.
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 Aurora, Ava and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap