Head to head · Girls' names
Billie vs Lara
#691 vs #691 in 2025
Billie and Lara share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#691). 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, Billie leads 4 measures of 6; Lara 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: Billie #906, Lara #1147 — Billie higher
- 1890s: Billie #665, Lara #1520 — Billie higher
- 1900s: Billie #344, Lara #1651 — Billie higher
- 1910s: Billie #269, Lara #2235 — Billie higher
- 1920s: Billie #147, Lara #2048 — Billie higher
- 1930s: Billie #107, Lara #2286 — Billie higher
- 1940s: Billie #159, Lara #2829 — Billie higher
- 1950s: Billie #247, Lara #2231 — Billie higher
- 1960s: Billie #332, Lara #998 — Billie higher
- 1970s: Billie #260, Lara #327 — Billie higher
- 1980s: Billie #539, Lara #417 — Lara higher
- 1990s: Billie #923, Lara #725 — Lara higher
- 2000s: Billie #1847, Lara #811 — Lara higher
- 2010s: Billie #1876, Lara #814 — Lara higher
- 2020s: Billie #859, Lara #707 — Lara higher
Billie stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Lara has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Billie | Lara |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #906 | #1147 |
| 1890s | #665 | #1520 |
| 1900s | #344 | #1651 |
| 1910s | #269 | #2235 |
| 1920s | #147 | #2048 |
| 1930s | #107 | #2286 |
| 1940s | #159 | #2829 |
| 1950s | #247 | #2231 |
| 1960s | #332 | #998 |
| 1970s | #260 | #327 |
| 1980s | #539 | #417 |
| 1990s | #923 | #725 |
| 2000s | #1847 | #811 |
| 2010s | #1876 | #814 |
| 2020s | #859 | #707 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Billie
- Canada#93
- Scotland#100
Lara
- England & Wales#98
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Billie
resolute protection — from the Germanic elements for 'will' and 'helmet'
The meaning belongs to William/Wilhelm, the source of both Bill and Wilhelmina; Billie inherits it from either side.
Wilhelm → William → Will → Bill → Billie
How it traveled
The root is the Germanic name Wilhelm, built from wil, 'will' or 'desire', and helm, 'helmet, protection'. The Normans carried it into England as William in the eleventh century, where it became so common that speakers wore it down to Will and then, by a medieval rhyming habit, to Bill.
Lara
No single settled meaning — most often read as a short form of Larisa, after the Greek city Larissa
Three separate roads meet at this spelling. As a Russian pet form of Larisa, it points back to Larissa in Thessaly, whose own place-name meaning has never been established. In Latin, Lara (also Larunda) is a figure in Ovid's Fasti, connected with the Lares, the household gods of Roman homes. And in Spanish and Portuguese, Lara is a surname from Lara de los Infantes in Burgos, home of the medieval House of Lara. None of the three cancels the others out.
Larissa (Greek city name) → Larisa → Lara
How it traveled
The name's clearest line runs through Russian, where Larisa has long been shortened to Lara in ordinary speech. English-speaking readers met it that way in Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, published in the late 1950s, and then in the film of the following decade, whose theme tune bore her name and was played half to death.
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
Billie
BIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable. Identical in sound to Billy, so the spelling only shows up in writing.
- Bee — Informal, drawn from the initial; used at home more than on paper.
- Billie-Jean — A double-barrelled extension rather than a shortening, long established in American use.
- Bill — Rare for a girl, since Bill stands on its own as a man's name; mostly heard as teasing between friends.
Lara
LAH-rah
The first syllable takes the vowel of "father". Many American speakers say LAIR-ah instead, and both are heard without correction; it helps to say which one you mean the first few times.
- Lala — Affectionate home form, used with small children rather than in writing.
- Larie — Occasional informal extension; rare, and not used as 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 Billie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 318 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooBillie is on the national lists of Canada and Scotland
Choose Lara if you want…
- a name holding steadyLara is holding its place on the charts
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
Billie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and short enough that a child can write it early.
- Comes with a ready-made formal option: Wilhelmina on the birth certificate, Billie every day, if you want both.
- On US records continuously since the nineteenth century, so it is familiar to every generation rather than new to any.
To consider
- Billie and Billy sound identical, so expect the y spelling on forms, name tags and cards for life. A quick 'with an i-e' becomes routine.
- Billy remains well established as a boy's name, so some people will assume a boy before they meet her. This eases the moment she is introduced, but it does happen on paper first.
- The name is still strongly represented among older generations, and a few very famous bearers — listed below — dominate recognition. Some people will say one of those names back to you every time.
Lara
Strengths
- Four letters, one obvious spelling once the sound is known, and no silent letters to dictate over the phone.
- Used unchanged in Italian, Turkish, Croatian, Slovenian, German and Portuguese, so it travels without translation.
- On US records for well over a century, and currently in use in England and Wales too — familiar without being crowded.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate in American English — LAH-rah and LAIR-ah — so she will likely spend some of her life gently correcting people, or letting both stand.
- It sits close to Laura, Lauren, Clara and Larissa, and mishearings in that direction are common on introductions and voicemails.
- For a good many adults, the name recalls Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider games as readily as Pasternak's heroine. Neither association is unkind, but both are strong.
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 Billie and Lara 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 Billie and Lara?
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
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- Canadian favorites the US overlooks
- Scottish gems the US hasn't discovered
- Vintage nicknames standing on their own
- all guides
Where Billie and Lara each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Billie or Lara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Billie or Lara?
- They tie in 2025: Billie ranked #691 with 409 babies; Lara ranked #691 with 409 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Billie or Lara?
- Billie. Over the last five years Billie moved up 318 places; Lara moved up 16 places.
- Which is the older name, Billie or Lara?
- Billie entered the US charts in 1886; Lara entered the US charts in 1887. On the American record, Billie is the older name.
- How many people are named Billie and Lara?
- About 53,500 people named Billie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 28,500 people named Lara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Billies or Laras in the classroom?
- Billie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lara 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 Billie, Lara and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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