Head to head · Girls' names
Blake vs Leia
#295 vs #297 in 2025
Blake is a whisker ahead (#295 vs #297 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Blake is stepping back from its peak, Leia is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Leia has the edge.
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, Blake leads 4 measures of 6; Leia 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
- 1940s: Blake —, Leia #4235 — Leia higher
- 1950s: Blake #5227, Leia #5421 — Blake higher
- 1960s: Blake #4351, Leia #2967 — Leia higher
- 1970s: Blake #3340, Leia #2622 — Leia higher
- 1980s: Blake #1747, Leia #1429 — Leia higher
- 1990s: Blake #993, Leia #1950 — Blake higher
- 2000s: Blake #1638, Leia #1179 — Leia higher
- 2010s: Blake #519, Leia #500 — Leia higher
- 2020s: Blake #225, Leia #274 — Blake higher
Leia stood higher in 6 of 9 decades; Blake took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Blake | Leia |
|---|---|---|
| 1940s | — | #4235 |
| 1950s | #5227 | #5421 |
| 1960s | #4351 | #2967 |
| 1970s | #3340 | #2622 |
| 1980s | #1747 | #1429 |
| 1990s | #993 | #1950 |
| 2000s | #1638 | #1179 |
| 2010s | #519 | #500 |
| 2020s | #225 | #274 |
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
Blake
Either "black, dark" or "pale, fair" — the two readings compete
Old English had both blæc, "black or dark," and blāc, "pale, wan, bright." The two words drifted close together in Middle English spelling, and surname scholars have never been able to separate which families got Blake from which. So the name genuinely carries both senses, dark and fair, with no way to choose between them — an unusually neat piece of linguistic accident.
Old English blæc / blāc → Middle English Blake (byname) → Blake (English surname) → Blake (given name)
How it traveled
Blake is an English surname first, of the descriptive kind given to a person for their coloring — dark or fair, depending on which Old English root a given family's name came from. It was well established across England by the Middle Ages, and a branch of Blakes became one of the merchant families of Galway in Ireland.
Leia
"weary" through Hebrew Leah; "garland, wreath" in Hawaiian
As a form of Leah, the Hebrew name in Genesis is traditionally read as "weary," with some scholars connecting it instead to an Akkadian word for cow or wild cow. Quite separately, Hawaiian leia relates to lei, a garland or wreath. Which reading applies depends entirely on which tradition a family is drawing from, and both are genuine.
Le'ah (Hebrew) → Leia (Greek, Septuagint) → Lia → Léia (Portuguese) → Leia
How it traveled
The oldest thread runs through the Hebrew name Le'ah, borne in Genesis by Jacob's first wife; when the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, it was written Λεία, and Latin and the Romance languages carried it on as Lia, with Léia established in Brazilian Portuguese. A wholly separate thread is Hawaiian, where leia belongs to the family of words around lei, the garland.
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
Blake
BLAYK
One syllable, rhyming with lake. Spelled the way it sounds in English, and the same for a girl or a boy.
- Blakey — Affectionate extension used within families and on sports teams; rarely written down.
- B — Initial-only informal address, common among friends and siblings.
Leia
LAY-ah
LAY-ah is the usual American pronunciation, following the film. LEE-ah is also heard, especially from people reading it as a version of Leah, and both are defensible — worth deciding early which one your family says.
- Lei — Informal clipping; also stands alone as a Hawaiian given name.
- Lia — Used both as a short form and as an independent given name across Italian, Portuguese and Dutch.
- Lea — Doubles as a full given name in German, French and Scandinavian records.
- Lele — Family-level nickname, mostly heard in Portuguese-speaking households.
- Also Lee.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Blake if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsBlake is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesBlake is 1 syllable to Leia's 2
Choose Leia if you want…
- a name with more sound in itLeia runs 2 syllables, Blake 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Lei, Lia and Lea
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
Blake
Strengths
- One syllable and one settled spelling — almost never misheard or misspelled by an English speaker.
- A documented English surname since the Middle Ages, and on American birth records since the nineteenth century.
- Used for boys and girls in near-equal numbers, so neither child is the unusual case.
To consider
- Because the split between boys and girls is close to even, a Blake on paper — a class list, an application — gives no signal either way. Some families like that; others find themselves correcting assumptions.
- The meaning cannot be pinned down, and the two candidates point in opposite directions. If a settled, quotable meaning matters to you, this name will not give you one.
- One hard syllable ending in a k sound offers very little to shorten. Expect Blake itself to do nearly all the work, with no ready pet form waiting in reserve.
Leia
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and no silent letters — easy for a young child to write and easy to say once heard.
- Documented in Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese and Hawaiian traditions, so it is recognizable well beyond English.
- A widely known cultural reference means almost no one needs the spelling explained twice.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, LAY-ah and LEE-ah, mean the name will occasionally be said the way you did not intend. A quick correction usually settles it, but the correcting never quite stops.
- The Star Wars association is immediate and permanent for a great many people, and it will draw comments — affectionate ones, mostly, but frequent.
- Leah, Lea, Lia and Léia are all in circulation, so forms and email addresses will sometimes come back with the wrong one.
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 Blake and Leia 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 Blake and Leia?
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
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
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- Middle names that go with everything
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- all guides
Where Blake and Leia each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Blake or Leia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Blake or Leia?
- Blake, in 2025: Blake ranked #295 with 1,035 babies; Leia ranked #297 with 1,033 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Blake or Leia?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Blake moved down 73 places; Leia moved down 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Blake or Leia?
- Blake entered the US charts in 1951; Leia entered the US charts in 1949. On the American record, Leia is the older name.
- How many people are named Blake and Leia?
- About 20,000 people named Blake are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Leia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Blakes or Leias in the classroom?
- Blake will almost certainly be the only one in school. Leia 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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