Head to head · Boys' names
Bellamy vs Cannon
#721 vs #721 in 2025
Bellamy and Cannon share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#721). The records cannot split them; sound and story will.
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, Cannon leads 3 measures of 6; Bellamy 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
- 1900s: Bellamy —, Cannon #1064 — Cannon higher
- 1910s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3787 — Cannon higher
- 1920s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3786 — Cannon higher
- 1940s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3525 — Cannon higher
- 1950s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3223 — Cannon higher
- 1960s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3573 — Cannon higher
- 1970s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3211 — Cannon higher
- 1980s: Bellamy —, Cannon #3571 — Cannon higher
- 1990s: Bellamy —, Cannon #1999 — Cannon higher
- 2000s: Bellamy —, Cannon #866 — Cannon higher
- 2010s: Bellamy #3641, Cannon #546 — Cannon higher
- 2020s: Bellamy #690, Cannon #629 — Cannon higher
Cannon stood higher in every recorded decade — 12 of 12.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Bellamy | Cannon |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #1064 |
| 1910s | — | #3787 |
| 1920s | — | #3786 |
| 1940s | — | #3525 |
| 1950s | — | #3223 |
| 1960s | — | #3573 |
| 1970s | — | #3211 |
| 1980s | — | #3571 |
| 1990s | — | #1999 |
| 2000s | — | #866 |
| 2010s | #3641 | #546 |
| 2020s | #690 | #629 |
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
Bellamy
beautiful friend, fine friend
From Old French bel ami. The surname was a nickname-name, given to someone regarded as a good companion.
bel ami (Old French) → Belami → Bellamy
How it traveled
The source is Old French: bel ami, a friendly form of address that hardened into a byname and then a hereditary surname. Norman families brought Bellamy to England, where it settled into the records as a surname and stayed one for centuries, later traveling to Ireland and across the Atlantic with emigrants.
Cannon
From the medieval English word for a cathedral canon, a clergyman; or an anglicized Irish family name
The English surname comes from Anglo-Norman and Middle English 'canoun', a member of a cathedral chapter — used for the clergyman himself or for someone in his household's service. The Irish surname Cannon is an anglicization of Ó Canáin and related Gaelic names, and its own root is separately debated. Both roads end at the same English spelling, so a bearer today cannot be sorted into one or the other. The artillery word is unrelated in origin: it descends from Latin 'canna', a reed or tube.
Latin canonicus → Anglo-Norman canoun → English surname Cannon → Cannon (given name)
How it traveled
For most of its life this was a surname, not a first name. In medieval England it attached to men connected with cathedral canons — the clergy who lived under canon law and staffed the great churches — and in Ireland it emerged separately when clerks wrote Gaelic names such as Ó Canáin in English letters.
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
Bellamy
BEL-uh-mee
Stress on the first syllable. The French original puts the weight at the end, but the English surname pronunciation has been front-stressed for centuries and is what people will say.
- Bell — The most direct short form; works for a child of either sex and stands alone as a surname-name too.
- Belle — Informal, and an established girl's name in its own right, so it tends to be read as feminine.
- Bella — Informal, common in families with a girl named Bellamy; already very familiar as a full name.
- Amy — Taken from the second half rather than the first; a long-established given name on its own, so it reads as a separate name more than a nickname.
- Also Bells.
Cannon
KAN-un
Stress on the first syllable, exactly like the artillery word. Identical in speech to 'canon' with one n, which is where most written mistakes come from.
- Cann — The only short form in any real use, and mostly informal and family-internal; it does not stand alone as a given name.
- Canny — Heard occasionally as a playground or teammate nickname rather than anything settled.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Bellamy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 13 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itBellamy runs 3 syllables, Cannon 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Bell, Belle and Bella
Choose Cannon if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsCannon is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesCannon is 2 syllables to Bellamy's 3
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
Bellamy
Strengths
- The meaning is transparent and pleasant — "beautiful friend" — and needs no explaining to anyone who has studied a little French.
- Short forms are already built in: Bell, Belle, Bella, even Amy, all of them familiar words rather than inventions.
- Spelled the way it sounds once heard, and recognizable to most people as an existing surname.
To consider
- Boys and girls receive it in close to equal numbers. On paper — a class list, an email, a form — no one will be able to guess, so expect the occasional wrong assumption in either direction.
- The Bella and Belle inside it pull hard toward the feminine in casual use. If you are naming a boy and want to keep the sound masculine, Bell or the full name may need to be the family habit.
- It is still mostly heard as a surname, so introductions sometimes need a second beat, and Bellamie or Bellamey will show up in other people's spelling.
Cannon
Strengths
- Every English speaker can read it aloud on sight — one settled pronunciation, no variants to correct.
- Sits inside a pattern Americans already know well: a surname used as a boy's first name, alongside Carson, Mason and Hudson.
- Has been documented on US records far longer than its recent surge of babies suggests, so it is not a new coinage.
To consider
- The homograph is unavoidable: in American English, 'cannon' is first of all a piece of artillery. Most people take that in stride, but the association arrives before any medieval clergyman does.
- Expect the one-n spelling. 'Canon' turns up in canon law, literary canon and a camera brand, so a lifetime of gentle corrections is likely.
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly everyone who carries it is still a child. Among adults it reads as a distinctly modern American choice.
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 Bellamy and Cannon in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Bellamy and Cannon?
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Bellamy and Cannon each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Bellamy or Cannon — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Bellamy or Cannon?
- They tie in 2025: Bellamy ranked #721 with 374 babies; Cannon ranked #721 with 374 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Bellamy or Cannon?
- Bellamy. Over the last five years Bellamy moved up 13 places; Cannon moved down 179 places.
- Which is the older name, Bellamy or Cannon?
- Bellamy entered the US charts in 2014; Cannon entered the US charts in 1904. On the American record, Cannon is the older name.
- How many people are named Bellamy and Cannon?
- About 3,000 people named Bellamy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,000 people named Cannon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Bellamys or Cannons in the classroom?
- Bellamy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Cannon 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
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