Head to head · Girls' names
Ava vs Eliana
#11 vs #10 in 2025
Eliana is a whisker ahead (#10 vs #11 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Eliana is climbing the charts fast, Ava is stepping back from its peak.
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Which one would you pick?
1 parent has voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
The tape is even: Ava and Eliana each lead 3 measures of 6.
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, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1890s: Ava #403, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1900s: Ava #464, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1910s: Ava #479, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1920s: Ava #565, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1930s: Ava #619, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1940s: Ava #702, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1950s: Ava #436, Eliana — — Ava higher
- 1960s: Ava #660, Eliana #4496 — Ava higher
- 1970s: Ava #993, Eliana #4318 — Ava higher
- 1980s: Ava #1065, Eliana #1817 — Ava higher
- 1990s: Ava #682, Eliana #885 — Ava higher
- 2000s: Ava #49, Eliana #331 — Ava higher
- 2010s: Ava #4, Eliana #114 — Ava higher
- 2020s: Ava #7, Eliana #34 — Ava higher
Ava stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ava | Eliana |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #394 | — |
| 1890s | #403 | — |
| 1900s | #464 | — |
| 1910s | #479 | — |
| 1920s | #565 | — |
| 1930s | #619 | — |
| 1940s | #702 | — |
| 1950s | #436 | — |
| 1960s | #660 | #4496 |
| 1970s | #993 | #4318 |
| 1980s | #1065 | #1817 |
| 1990s | #682 | #885 |
| 2000s | #49 | #331 |
| 2010s | #4 | #114 |
| 2020s | #7 | #34 |
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
Eliana
- Canada#43
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.
Eliana
Either "my God has answered me" (Hebrew) or a feminine form of the Roman family name Aelius
Two genuine sources meet at this spelling. The Hebrew אֱלִיאָנָה combines El, "God," with the root for "answered" — "my God has answered me." Separately, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese Eliana descends from Latin Aeliana, the feminine of Aelianus, from the Roman gens name Aelius, whose own meaning was never established. Neither reading is a mistake; which one applies depends on which family line a given Eliana comes down.
Aelius → Aeliana → Éliane → Eliana
How it traveled
The Hebrew name is built from ordinary religious language — El for God, plus the verb for answering a prayer — and belongs to the same family of names as Eliezer and Elisheva. The Latin Aeliana comes from Aelius, a well-attested Roman family name, and passed through the Romance languages as Eliana in Italian, Spanish and Portuguese and Éliane in French.
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.
Eliana
el-ee-AH-nuh
The common American pronunciation stresses the third syllable with an open ah. Some families say eh-lee-AN-uh, rhyming the ending with Anna, and Hebrew speakers place more weight on the final syllable. All are correct for their tradition, so expect to state your preference occasionally.
- Ellie — The most common short form in American use; also given as a full name on its own.
- Ella — Informal, and independently a popular given name, so it rarely reads as a nickname.
- Lia — Drawn from the second half of the name; standard in Italian and Portuguese usage and a given name in its own right.
- Ana — Used in Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families, where it is also a complete name.
- Also Eli.
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)
Eliana
No documented entry for Eliana 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 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 Eliana's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooAva is on the national lists of England & Wales, Canada, Scotland and France
- a long American recordAva was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Eliana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 43 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itEliana runs 4 syllables, Ava 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Ellie, Ella and Lia
- a newer arrivalEliana entered the US charts in 1961
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.
Eliana
Strengths
- Reads and pronounces the same in Spanish, Portuguese and Italian, which matters in a multilingual family.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation — Ellie, Ella, Lia — none of which need explaining.
- Phonetic in English: people can usually spell it after hearing it once.
To consider
- Elianna, with two n's, competes closely with this spelling, so you will likely be asked which one you mean for the rest of her life.
- The wave is very recent and still rising, so the name currently belongs strongly to young children rather than to all ages.
- Ellie and Ella are the default nicknames for a long list of popular names right now — she may share them with several classmates.
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 Ava and Eliana 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 Eliana?
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 Ava and Eliana — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ava or Eliana — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ava or Eliana?
- Eliana, in 2025: Eliana ranked #10 with 8,191 babies; Ava ranked #11 with 7,732 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ava or Eliana?
- Eliana. Over the last five years Ava moved down 8 places; Eliana moved up 43 places.
- Which is the older name, Ava or Eliana?
- Ava was already in use when US records began in 1880; Eliana entered the US charts in 1961. On the American record, Ava is the older name.
- How many people are named Ava and Eliana?
- About 335,000 people named Ava are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 75,500 people named Eliana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Avas or Elianas in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Ava. Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Eliana.
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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