Head to head · Girls' names
Bianca vs Mae
#500 vs #500 in 2025
Bianca and Mae share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#500). 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, Mae leads 3 measures of 6; Bianca 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: Bianca —, Mae #65 — Mae higher
- 1890s: Bianca —, Mae #55 — Mae higher
- 1900s: Bianca #1983, Mae #58 — Mae higher
- 1910s: Bianca #2640, Mae #84 — Mae higher
- 1920s: Bianca #3374, Mae #116 — Mae higher
- 1930s: Bianca #3357, Mae #159 — Mae higher
- 1940s: Bianca #3539, Mae #228 — Mae higher
- 1950s: Bianca #1905, Mae #382 — Mae higher
- 1960s: Bianca #1580, Mae #723 — Mae higher
- 1970s: Bianca #711, Mae #1354 — Bianca higher
- 1980s: Bianca #269, Mae #1868 — Bianca higher
- 1990s: Bianca #119, Mae #2157 — Bianca higher
- 2000s: Bianca #181, Mae #1324 — Bianca higher
- 2010s: Bianca #354, Mae #679 — Bianca higher
- 2020s: Bianca #453, Mae #520 — Bianca higher
Mae stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Bianca has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Bianca | Mae |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #65 |
| 1890s | — | #55 |
| 1900s | #1983 | #58 |
| 1910s | #2640 | #84 |
| 1920s | #3374 | #116 |
| 1930s | #3357 | #159 |
| 1940s | #3539 | #228 |
| 1950s | #1905 | #382 |
| 1960s | #1580 | #723 |
| 1970s | #711 | #1354 |
| 1980s | #269 | #1868 |
| 1990s | #119 | #2157 |
| 2000s | #181 | #1324 |
| 2010s | #354 | #679 |
| 2020s | #453 | #520 |
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
Bianca
White, bright
From the Italian adjective bianca, the feminine of bianco, 'white'. The Romance word itself was borrowed from a Germanic root meaning 'bright, shining, white' — the same root behind French Blanche and Spanish Blanca.
*blank (Germanic, 'bright, white') → blanc / bianco (Romance color word) → Blanche → Bianca
How it traveled
The root is Germanic, meaning bright or shining, and it passed early into the Romance languages as the ordinary word for the color white — blanc in French, bianco in Italian. Used as a woman's name, it appears first in the French form Blanche, carried by medieval queens and countesses, and in Italy as Bianca.
Mae
A pet form of Mary or Margaret
Mae is a variant of May, used as a short form of Mary and Margaret.
Mary → May → Mae
How it traveled
'; the tidier version came from audiences and impressionists. In 1992 Mae Jemison, a physician and engineer from Chicago, flew aboard the shuttle Endeavour and became the first Black woman in space.
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
Bianca
bee-AHN-kah
The c is hard, as in Italian: never 'bee-AN-cha'. Both bee-AHN-kah and the flatter bee-AN-kuh are widely used in the US, and Spanish speakers may reach for Blanca by reflex.
- Bia — The standard informal short form in Portuguese-speaking countries, and used in English too; also given as a name on its own.
- Bibi — Affectionate, family-level; more often heard in childhood than in adult life.
- Bee — Informal, from the first letter; shared with several other B names.
- Anca — Used in Romanian contexts, where Anca also stands alone as a given name.
Mae
MAY
One syllable.
- Maisie — A pet form, also a given name on its own.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Bianca if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsBianca is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itBianca runs 3 syllables, Mae 1
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Bia, Bibi and Bee
- a newer arrivalBianca entered the US charts in 1905
Choose Mae if you want…
- a name on the way upup 72 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMae is 1 syllable to Bianca's 3
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Mae (Maisie)
- a long American recordMae was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Bianca
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Italian, Romanian, Portuguese and English, so it crosses borders without needing to be reissued.
- A meaning that is plain and undisputed: white, from the everyday Italian word.
- Established short forms already in real use — Bia, Bibi — rather than ones a family has to invent.
To consider
- Stress and vowels vary: some people say bee-AHN-kah, others bee-AN-kuh, and the correction becomes a small lifelong habit.
- Blanca and Bianka are close enough that mail and forms will sometimes arrive with the wrong one.
- In the US the name reads as belonging to a particular stretch of recent decades, since most people carrying it are adults rather than children — though it is uncommon enough now that a child would likely be the only one in her school.
Mae
Strengths
- Short, bright and instantly familiar.
- A long, unbroken American history.
- Works well as a first or middle name.
To consider
- People will ask whether it is short for Mary.
- It is sometimes spelled May, and forms may correct it.
- 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
Bianca
68%chance Bianca feels dated by 2040
Bianca is coming down from a big peak (#84 in 1990). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Mae
40%chance Mae feels dated by 2040
Mae 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.
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 Bianca and Mae 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 Bianca and Mae?
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 these names appear on
- Winter names for cold-month babies
- Italian names Americans adore
- Shakespeare names still stealing scenes
- Latin American and Caribbean names
- all guides
Where Bianca and Mae each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Bianca or Mae — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Bianca or Mae?
- They tie in 2025: Bianca ranked #500 with 594 babies; Mae ranked #500 with 594 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Bianca or Mae?
- Mae. Over the last five years Bianca moved down 80 places; Mae moved up 72 places.
- Which is the older name, Bianca or Mae?
- Bianca entered the US charts in 1905; Mae was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Mae is the older name.
- How many people are named Bianca and Mae?
- About 76,000 people named Bianca are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 28,000 people named Mae are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Biancas or Maes in the classroom?
- Bianca will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mae 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 Bianca, Mae and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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