Head to head · Girls' names
Ava vs Eleanor
#11 vs #12 in 2025
Ava is a whisker ahead (#11 vs #12 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ava is stepping back from its peak, Eleanor is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Eleanor has the edge.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Ava leads 4 measures of 6; Eleanor 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: Ava #394, Eleanor #123 — Eleanor higher
- 1890s: Ava #403, Eleanor #104 — Eleanor higher
- 1900s: Ava #464, Eleanor #74 — Eleanor higher
- 1910s: Ava #479, Eleanor #34 — Eleanor higher
- 1920s: Ava #565, Eleanor #31 — Eleanor higher
- 1930s: Ava #619, Eleanor #48 — Eleanor higher
- 1940s: Ava #702, Eleanor #124 — Eleanor higher
- 1950s: Ava #436, Eleanor #253 — Eleanor higher
- 1960s: Ava #660, Eleanor #402 — Eleanor higher
- 1970s: Ava #993, Eleanor #609 — Eleanor higher
- 1980s: Ava #1065, Eleanor #660 — Eleanor higher
- 1990s: Ava #682, Eleanor #518 — Eleanor higher
- 2000s: Ava #49, Eleanor #293 — Ava higher
- 2010s: Ava #4, Eleanor #83 — Ava higher
- 2020s: Ava #7, Eleanor #16 — Ava higher
Eleanor stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Ava has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ava | Eleanor |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #394 | #123 |
| 1890s | #403 | #104 |
| 1900s | #464 | #74 |
| 1910s | #479 | #34 |
| 1920s | #565 | #31 |
| 1930s | #619 | #48 |
| 1940s | #702 | #124 |
| 1950s | #436 | #253 |
| 1960s | #660 | #402 |
| 1970s | #993 | #609 |
| 1980s | #1065 | #660 |
| 1990s | #682 | #518 |
| 2000s | #49 | #293 |
| 2010s | #4 | #83 |
| 2020s | #7 | #16 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ava
- England & Wales#9
- Canada#10
- Scotland#13
- France#40
Eleanor
- Canada#31
- England & Wales#67
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Eleanor
Not established
Eleanor comes from Provencal Alienor and its origin has never been established. The reading light, from a Greek word, does not work phonetically and is a later attachment. A derivation from an older Germanic name has been proposed and not demonstrated. One of the most used names in Europe has no known meaning.
Alienor → Eleanor
How it traveled
The name came to England with a specific woman. Eleanor of Aquitaine inherited the largest duchy in France at fifteen, married the king of France, went on crusade with him, had the marriage annulled, married the man who became king of England eight weeks later, and had eight children including two kings.
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
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.
Eleanor
EL-uh-nor
Three syllables, stress on the first, with the middle reduced almost to nothing. British speakers often give it three full syllables. Spanish Leonor has two and puts the weight at the end.
- Nell — An old English pet form, made by mishearing mine Ell as my Nell; a full name of its own.
- Nora — The back half; a settled name in its own right across Europe.
- Ellie — The commonest modern clip; shared with Ella, Elizabeth and Eleanora.
- Leni — The German clip of the same name, given alone there.
Who has carried each name
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)
Eleanor
Eleanor Roosevelt (b. 1884) — Longest-serving First Lady, drove the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Eleanor of Aquitaine (b. 1124) — Medieval queen of both France and England
Eleanor H. Porter (b. 1868) — Wrote Pollyanna
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 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 Eleanor's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooAva is on the national lists of England & Wales, Canada, Scotland and France
- a name that feels very nowAva is stepping back from its peak
Choose Eleanor if you want…
- a name on the way upup 10 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEleanor runs 3 syllables, Ava 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 84% for Ava
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
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.
Eleanor
Strengths
- Four short forms of genuinely different registers, three of which are full names elsewhere.
- Recognized without translation in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Polish.
- Documented continuous use for nine hundred years, with named bearers in every century.
To consider
- It has no established meaning, which matters if the meaning is why you chose it.
- Elinor, Eleanore and Elanor are all in use, so the spelling will occasionally be given.
- It is climbing hard at the moment, so an Eleanor will not be the only one for long.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ava
84%chance Ava feels dated by 2040
Ava is coming down from a big peak (#3 in 2016). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Eleanor
12%chance Eleanor feels dated by 2040
Eleanor has held the top-100 across 6 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 Ava and Eleanor 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 Ava and Eleanor?
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
Every list here names both Ava and Eleanor — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ava or Eleanor — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ava or Eleanor?
- Ava, in 2025: Ava ranked #11 with 7,732 babies; Eleanor ranked #12 with 7,649 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ava or Eleanor?
- Eleanor. Over the last five years Ava moved down 8 places; Eleanor moved up 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Ava or Eleanor?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Ava and Eleanor?
- About 335,000 people named Ava are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 147,000 people named Eleanor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Avas or Eleanors in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Ava. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Eleanor.
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
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