Head to head · Girls' names
Aylin vs Paige
#345 vs #346 in 2025
Aylin is a whisker ahead (#345 vs #346 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Aylin is holding its place on the charts, Paige is stepping back from its peak.
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
The tape is even: Aylin and Paige 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
- 1910s: Aylin —, Paige #2900 — Paige higher
- 1920s: Aylin —, Paige #3647 — Paige higher
- 1930s: Aylin —, Paige #3373 — Paige higher
- 1940s: Aylin —, Paige #1482 — Paige higher
- 1950s: Aylin —, Paige #1016 — Paige higher
- 1960s: Aylin —, Paige #423 — Paige higher
- 1970s: Aylin #7781, Paige #445 — Paige higher
- 1980s: Aylin #7486, Paige #303 — Paige higher
- 1990s: Aylin #3587, Paige #66 — Paige higher
- 2000s: Aylin #756, Paige #70 — Paige higher
- 2010s: Aylin #447, Paige #148 — Paige higher
- 2020s: Aylin #401, Paige #328 — Paige higher
Paige stood higher in every recorded decade — 12 of 12.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Aylin | Paige |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #2900 |
| 1920s | — | #3647 |
| 1930s | — | #3373 |
| 1940s | — | #1482 |
| 1950s | — | #1016 |
| 1960s | — | #423 |
| 1970s | #7781 | #445 |
| 1980s | #7486 | #303 |
| 1990s | #3587 | #66 |
| 2000s | #756 | #70 |
| 2010s | #447 | #148 |
| 2020s | #401 | #328 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Aylin
Moon halo — the ring of light around the moon
The first element, Turkish ay, 'moon', is certain, and Turkish naming tradition reads the whole name as the halo or aureole of moonlight. The exact history of the ending is less securely explained than the moon itself.
ay (Turkish, 'moon') → Aylin → Aylín
How it traveled
Aylin is Turkish, one of a cluster of names formed from ay, 'moon', that spread widely in Turkey over the twentieth century alongside Ayla, Aysun, Aynur and Aysel. It is also used in Azerbaijani.
Paige
a young servant
The word behind the name meant a boy in service in a household, and the reading is settled. It reached English from French and Italian, and further back from a Greek word for a child. As a surname it described the job; as a first name it describes nothing, which is the ordinary fate of occupational names.
A Greek word for a child, through Italian and French → An English word for a boy in service → A surname with an added letter → Paige as a first name, mostly for girls
Our story of Paige — where the record runs out
The name and the word have quietly settled on different spellings, and that is unusual. Normally a word-name keeps the word's spelling and the two are read together: a rose is a rose whether it is a flower or a woman.
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
Aylin
eye-LEEN
That is the Turkish and Spanish pronunciation, with the weight on the second syllable. Many American families say AY-lin instead, rhyming the first part with 'day'. Both are in real use, so it is worth deciding which one you want and saying it that way from the start.
- Ay — Informal, family use; the moon-word the name is built from.
- Lin — Informal clipping of the second syllable, used in English-speaking settings; also stands alone as a given name.
- Ayli — Affectionate spoken form rather than a written one.
Paige
PAYJ
One syllable. The i is entirely silent and does nothing to the vowel in front of it, which already had its value from the a and the final e.
- Pai — The front alone, which is minimal and almost unshared.
- Paigey — The softened form, warm and used inside families.
- PJ — The initials, unisex and thoroughly American.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Aylin if you want…
- a name on the way upup 44 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itAylin runs 2 syllables, Paige 1
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 76% for Paige
Choose Paige if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsPaige is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesPaige is 1 syllable to Aylin's 2
- a name that feels very nowPaige is stepping back from its peak
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
Aylin
Strengths
- Short, five letters, and spelled the way it is spelled everywhere it is used — no long or shortened variant competing for the standard form.
- Works in Turkish and in Spanish without adjustment, and stays readable in English.
- Uncommon enough in American classrooms that a child is unlikely to share it with anyone in her year.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate — eye-LEEN and AY-lin — so she may spend her life correcting one or accepting both.
- Ayleen, Aylene, Aileen and Eileen all sound close and are separate names with separate histories; expect some spelling confusion, especially over the phone.
- If the Spanish accented form Aylín matters to you, know that American forms, databases and school systems will often drop the accent.
Paige
Strengths
- One syllable, no ambiguity, and nothing at all to teach anybody.
- It works on the register for either child, which the record confirms.
- The spelling separates the name from the ordinary word.
To consider
- The silent i has to be given every time the name is spelled aloud.
- The word it comes from named boys, which some families weigh.
- It is closely tied to the turn of the twenty-first century.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Aylin
40%chance Aylin feels dated by 2040
Aylin sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Paige
76%chance Paige feels dated by 2040
Paige is coming down from a big peak (#47 in 2003). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Aylin and Paige 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 Aylin and Paige?
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 Aylin and Paige — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Aylin or Paige — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Aylin or Paige?
- Aylin, in 2025: Aylin ranked #345 with 885 babies; Paige ranked #346 with 884 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Aylin or Paige?
- Aylin. Over the last five years Aylin moved up 44 places; Paige moved down 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Aylin or Paige?
- Aylin entered the US charts in 1973; Paige entered the US charts in 1915. On the American record, Paige is the older name.
- How many people are named Aylin and Paige?
- About 17,000 people named Aylin are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 144,000 people named Paige are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Aylins or Paiges in the classroom?
- Aylin will almost certainly be the only one in school. Paige will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. 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 Aylin, Paige and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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