Head to head · Girls' names
Brooklyn vs Esther
#118 vs #119 in 2025
Brooklyn is a whisker ahead (#118 vs #119 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Brooklyn is stepping back from its peak, Esther is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Esther 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, Brooklyn leads 4 measures of 6; Esther leads 2.
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: Brooklyn —, Esther #91 — Esther higher
- 1890s: Brooklyn —, Esther #43 — Esther higher
- 1900s: Brooklyn —, Esther #35 — Esther higher
- 1910s: Brooklyn —, Esther #35 — Esther higher
- 1920s: Brooklyn —, Esther #54 — Esther higher
- 1930s: Brooklyn —, Esther #97 — Esther higher
- 1940s: Brooklyn —, Esther #150 — Esther higher
- 1950s: Brooklyn —, Esther #198 — Esther higher
- 1960s: Brooklyn —, Esther #281 — Esther higher
- 1970s: Brooklyn #4763, Esther #324 — Esther higher
- 1980s: Brooklyn #1505, Esther #280 — Esther higher
- 1990s: Brooklyn #427, Esther #302 — Esther higher
- 2000s: Brooklyn #101, Esther #285 — Brooklyn higher
- 2010s: Brooklyn #34, Esther #202 — Brooklyn higher
- 2020s: Brooklyn #83, Esther #138 — Brooklyn higher
Esther stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Brooklyn has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Brooklyn | Esther |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #91 |
| 1890s | — | #43 |
| 1900s | — | #35 |
| 1910s | — | #35 |
| 1920s | — | #54 |
| 1930s | — | #97 |
| 1940s | — | #150 |
| 1950s | — | #198 |
| 1960s | — | #281 |
| 1970s | #4763 | #324 |
| 1980s | #1505 | #280 |
| 1990s | #427 | #302 |
| 2000s | #101 | #285 |
| 2010s | #34 | #202 |
| 2020s | #83 | #138 |
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
Brooklyn
From the New York borough, named for the Dutch village Breukelen — most often read as 'marshland' or 'broken land'
The Dutch place name is usually traced to 'broek', meaning marsh or wetland, joined to an element for a watercourse — roughly 'marsh stream'. A competing reading takes it as 'broken land', ground broken for cultivation. Both are serious; neither has won. What is not in doubt is the route: Dutch village to Dutch colonial settlement to American given name.
Breukelen → Breuckelen → Brooklyn
How it traveled
Breukelen is an old village in the Netherlands, on the river Vecht in the province of Utrecht, recorded in medieval Dutch documents long before anyone crossed an ocean. In 1646 settlers of New Netherland chartered a town of Breuckelen on Long Island, and English tongues wore the spelling down to Brooklyn.
Esther
Not established
The name may be Persian, from a word for a star, and it may be Babylonian, from the goddess Ishtar; the woman in the book also has a Hebrew name, Hadassah, which means a myrtle. Both explanations have been in circulation for two thousand years and neither can be settled. A name with two candidate origins in two dead languages is in about as difficult a position as etymology gets.
a name that may be Persian or Babylonian → the book of Esther written without a mention of God → Greek editors add prayers to make it acceptable → the Hebrew text is kept as it stands → an American peak at the end of the nineteenth century and a revival now
How it traveled
The argument about the book went on for centuries. It is set entirely in a foreign court, its heroine marries a gentile king, it contains no religious observance of any kind, and the only fragment of Hebrew scripture found at Qumran that is missing is this one.
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
Brooklyn
BROOK-lin
Stress on the first syllable, with the 'oo' of 'book' rather than 'boot'. The spelling gives the sound away, so it travels well in English-speaking countries.
- Brooke — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Brook — Same sound, simpler spelling; used on its own for both boys and girls.
- Brookie — Informal, mostly within families and among younger children.
- Lyn — Takes the back half instead of the front; also stands alone as a given name, chiefly among older generations.
- Also B.
Esther
ESS-tur
Two syllables, stress at the front. The th is said as a plain t in Hebrew and in most European languages, and English is the outlier in sounding it.
- Essie — The warm nineteenth-century short form, currently being rediscovered.
- Ettie — Built from the ending; a complete name of the same period.
Who has carried each name
Brooklyn
Brooklyn Decker (b. 1987) — Sports Illustrated model turned actress
Esther
Esther Duflo (b. 1972) — Nobel-winning economist who studies how to fight poverty
Esther Williams (b. 1921) — Swimming champion turned Hollywood's "Million Dollar Mermaid"
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Brooklyn if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsBrooklyn is stepping back from its peak
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Brooke, Brook and Brookie
- a newer arrivalBrooklyn entered the US charts in 1972
- a name that feels very nowBrooklyn is stepping back from its peak
Choose Esther if you want…
- a name on the way upup 29 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordEsther was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 81% for Brooklyn
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
Brooklyn
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight — almost no one hesitates over how to say it, in the US or abroad.
- Comes with ready-made short forms, Brooke and Lyn, both of which are established given names on their own.
- Shares its ending with a familiar family of names — Evelyn, Madelyn, Jocelyn — so it sits comfortably in a class list.
To consider
- The rival spellings are real: Brooklynn, Brooklin and Brookelyn all circulate, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often even though the standard form is the plain one.
- It names a very specific place, and people occasionally assume a family connection to New York. Outside the US it reads as distinctly American.
- Most Brooklyns alive today are children and teenagers, so the name carries a clear generational stamp — less a blank slate than a name of a particular moment.
Esther
Strengths
- It is short, established and used without alteration across most of Europe.
- Essie is available and is thoroughly current again.
- It is one of the few biblical women's names with a whole book to itself.
To consider
- There is no settled meaning and two candidate languages.
- It is rising quickly, so it will be commoner among her contemporaries than in the record.
- It reads as a great-grandmother's name to anybody who has not noticed the revival.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Brooklyn
81%chance Brooklyn feels dated by 2040
Brooklyn is coming down from a big peak (#21 in 2011). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Esther
12%chance Esther feels dated by 2040
Esther has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
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 Brooklyn and Esther 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 Brooklyn and Esther?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Brooklyn and Esther — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Brooklyn or Esther — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Brooklyn or Esther?
- Brooklyn, in 2025: Brooklyn ranked #118 with 2,300 babies; Esther ranked #119 with 2,277 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Brooklyn or Esther?
- Esther. Over the last five years Brooklyn moved down 64 places; Esther moved up 29 places.
- Which is the older name, Brooklyn or Esther?
- Brooklyn entered the US charts in 1972; Esther was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Esther is the older name.
- How many people are named Brooklyn and Esther?
- About 124,000 people named Brooklyn are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 106,000 people named Esther are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Brooklyns or Esthers in the classroom?
- Brooklyn will almost certainly be the only one in school. Esther 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 Brooklyn, Esther and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap