Head to head · Girls' names
Ayla vs Daisy
#77 vs #75 in 2025
Daisy is a whisker ahead (#75 vs #77 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Daisy is back after a long quiet spell, Ayla is climbing the charts fast.
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, Daisy leads 6 measures of 6; Ayla leads 0.
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: Ayla —, Daisy #59 — Daisy higher
- 1890s: Ayla —, Daisy #83 — Daisy higher
- 1900s: Ayla —, Daisy #90 — Daisy higher
- 1910s: Ayla —, Daisy #129 — Daisy higher
- 1920s: Ayla —, Daisy #166 — Daisy higher
- 1930s: Ayla —, Daisy #196 — Daisy higher
- 1940s: Ayla —, Daisy #269 — Daisy higher
- 1950s: Ayla —, Daisy #387 — Daisy higher
- 1960s: Ayla #5891, Daisy #519 — Daisy higher
- 1970s: Ayla #9871, Daisy #563 — Daisy higher
- 1980s: Ayla #2759, Daisy #287 — Daisy higher
- 1990s: Ayla #839, Daisy #161 — Daisy higher
- 2000s: Ayla #607, Daisy #148 — Daisy higher
- 2010s: Ayla #262, Daisy #175 — Daisy higher
- 2020s: Ayla #98, Daisy #110 — Ayla higher
Daisy stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Ayla took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ayla | Daisy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #59 |
| 1890s | — | #83 |
| 1900s | — | #90 |
| 1910s | — | #129 |
| 1920s | — | #166 |
| 1930s | — | #196 |
| 1940s | — | #269 |
| 1950s | — | #387 |
| 1960s | #5891 | #519 |
| 1970s | #9871 | #563 |
| 1980s | #2759 | #287 |
| 1990s | #839 | #161 |
| 2000s | #607 | #148 |
| 2010s | #262 | #175 |
| 2020s | #98 | #110 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ayla
- Scotland#41
- Canada#44
- England & Wales#47
- France#71
Daisy
- England & Wales#18
- Scotland#26
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ayla
Turkish: 'moonlight' or 'halo around the moon'. Hebrew: 'doe' or 'oak', through Ayala.
The Turkish reading is straightforward: *ay* means moon, and Ayla is glossed as moonlight or the ring of light around the moon. Independently, Ayla is used in Hebrew as a variant of Ayala, tied to words for a female deer and for the oak or terebinth tree. Neither reading borrowed from the other; the same spelling simply arrived twice.
ay (Turkish: moon) → Ayla
How it traveled
The Turkish Ayla is the older documented thread — a name formed from *ay*, moon, and in ordinary use in Turkey and Azerbaijani-speaking areas well before it appeared in American records. The Hebrew line runs separately, where Ayla stands as a shorter form of Ayala.
Daisy
The daisy flower
From the flower's name, Old English dæges eage, 'day's eye'. Daisy was also long used as a nickname for Margaret.
dæges eage → daisy → Daisy
How it traveled
Daisy spread in the nineteenth century both as a flower name and as a nickname for Margaret. Juliette Gordon Low of Savannah, known to her family all her life as Daisy, founded the Girl Scouts in 1912, and the youngest Girl Scouts are still called Daisies after her.
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
Ayla
AY-lah
The usual American pronunciation is AY-lah, with the first syllable like the letter A. In Turkish, *ay* sounds like the English word 'eye', so a Turkish speaker will say something closer to eye-LAH. Both are correct in their own setting, and families who use the name across languages often live with both.
Daisy
DAY-zee
Two syllables, stress on the first.
- Dais — Informal clipping.
Who has carried each name
Ayla
No documented entry for Ayla yet.
Daisy
Daisy Ridley (b. 1992) — Star Wars' Rey
Daisy Edgar-Jones (b. 1998) — Star of Normal People and Where the Crawdads Sing
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 Ayla if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooAyla is on the national lists of Scotland, Canada, England & Wales and France
- a newer arrivalAyla entered the US charts in 1963
- a name that feels very nowAyla is climbing the charts fast
Choose Daisy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 68 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordDaisy was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 55% for Ayla
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
Ayla
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and easy to spell from hearing it once — four letters, no silent letters, no doubled consonants.
- Works in Turkish, Hebrew and English without translation or adjustment, which matters in families that span more than one of them.
- Already recognized in several other countries, including Scotland, Canada, England and Wales, and France.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood with Isla, Layla, Lyla and Ayda. Expect a certain amount of gentle correcting, spoken and written.
- The AY-lah and eye-LAH pronunciations both have real claim to the name, so she may hear it two ways depending on who is speaking.
- The name is climbing rather than settling, so it will likely be better known by the time she starts school than it is now — familiar, though still not one of the names in every classroom.
Daisy
Strengths
- Instantly recognized and spelled the way everyone expects.
- A long American history with a strong modern return.
- A cheerful flower name with a real founder's story behind it.
To consider
- It is common again, so a Daisy may share her name with a classmate.
- Some people still hear it as a nickname and ask for the full name.
- For a boy it would be very unusual.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ayla
55%chance Ayla feels dated by 2040
Ayla is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Daisy
30%chance Daisy feels dated by 2040
Daisy is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Ayla and Daisy 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 Ayla and Daisy?
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
Every list here names both Ayla and Daisy — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ayla or Daisy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ayla or Daisy?
- Daisy, in 2025: Daisy ranked #75 with 3,206 babies; Ayla ranked #77 with 3,149 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ayla or Daisy?
- Daisy. Over the last five years Ayla moved up 54 places; Daisy moved up 68 places.
- Which is the older name, Ayla or Daisy?
- Ayla entered the US charts in 1963; Daisy was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Daisy is the older name.
- How many people are named Ayla and Daisy?
- About 38,000 people named Ayla are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 101,000 people named Daisy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aylas or Daisys in the classroom?
- Ayla will almost certainly be the only one in school. Daisy 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 Ayla, Daisy 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