Head to head · Girls' names
Camila vs Charlotte
#19 vs #2 in 2025
Charlotte is a whisker ahead (#2 vs #19 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Charlotte is climbing the charts fast, Camila is stepping back from its peak.
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, Charlotte leads 6 measures of 6; Camila 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: Camila —, Charlotte #92 — Charlotte higher
- 1890s: Camila —, Charlotte #102 — Charlotte higher
- 1900s: Camila —, Charlotte #106 — Charlotte higher
- 1910s: Camila #3402, Charlotte #85 — Charlotte higher
- 1920s: Camila #3875, Charlotte #77 — Charlotte higher
- 1930s: Camila #4090, Charlotte #70 — Charlotte higher
- 1940s: Camila #3979, Charlotte #59 — Charlotte higher
- 1950s: Camila #4649, Charlotte #115 — Charlotte higher
- 1960s: Camila #4164, Charlotte #155 — Charlotte higher
- 1970s: Camila #4077, Charlotte #222 — Charlotte higher
- 1980s: Camila #3185, Charlotte #290 — Charlotte higher
- 1990s: Camila #1303, Charlotte #293 — Charlotte higher
- 2000s: Camila #295, Charlotte #159 — Charlotte higher
- 2010s: Camila #37, Charlotte #15 — Charlotte higher
- 2020s: Camila #13, Charlotte #3 — Charlotte higher
Charlotte stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Camila | Charlotte |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #92 |
| 1890s | — | #102 |
| 1900s | — | #106 |
| 1910s | #3402 | #85 |
| 1920s | #3875 | #77 |
| 1930s | #4090 | #70 |
| 1940s | #3979 | #59 |
| 1950s | #4649 | #115 |
| 1960s | #4164 | #155 |
| 1970s | #4077 | #222 |
| 1980s | #3185 | #290 |
| 1990s | #1303 | #293 |
| 2000s | #295 | #159 |
| 2010s | #37 | #15 |
| 2020s | #13 | #3 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Camila
Not charting outside the US.
Charlotte
- Canada#2
- Scotland#14
- England & Wales#23
- France#41
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Camila
From Latin camillus/camilla, a young attendant at a religious ceremony
The Latin word camilla — a child who assisted a priest at sacrifices — is well documented, and most reference works read the name straight from it. Where the Latin word itself came from is not settled; a number of scholars trace it to Etruscan, the language Rome borrowed many names from, in which case the original sense is lost. Both readings are respectable, and neither can be proved out.
Camillus → Camilla → Camila
How it traveled
The name begins as a Roman cognomen, Camillus for men and Camilla for women, carried by one of the old patrician families of the Republic. Virgil's Aeneid, written in the first century BC, fixed Camilla in the literary memory of Europe, and the name survived through medieval and Catholic Italy, where Camilla with two l's is still standard.
Charlotte
Free man, or free — from the Germanic root behind Charles
The root is Old High German karl, 'free man' or simply 'man'. Charlotte carries it through the French diminutive of Charles, so the sense is inherited rather than freshly coined.
Karl → Charles → Charlot → Charlotte
How it traveled
The name begins with Germanic karl, which became Karl and then Charles, borne by Frankish and later French rulers. French speakers made feminine diminutives of it — Charlot for a boy, Charlotte for a girl — and by the seventeenth century Charlotte was established in France.
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
Camila
kuh-MEE-luh
In Spanish, kah-MEE-lah, with all three vowels fully sounded. Both are widely used in the United States and neither needs correcting. The Italian Camilla differs: there the stress sits on -MIL- with a doubled l.
- Cami — The most common short form in English and Spanish alike; also spelled Cammy or Camy.
- Mila — Taken from the second half of the name; also a full given name in its own right, and currently common as one.
- Cam — Clipped and informal, more often heard from friends and teammates than from family.
- Camilita — Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families rather than in writing.
- Also Cami-Cam.
Charlotte
SHAR-lət
Two syllables in English, stress on the first. French speakers say it closer to shar-LOT, with both syllables even and a crisper final t — worth knowing if the name will be used in both languages.
- Lottie — The long-standing English short form, itself given as an independent name in both the Victorian era and again in recent decades.
- Charlie — Informal and widely used; also reaches boys separately through Charles, so it is shared territory.
- Char — Casual, family-and-friends level, usually rhyming with 'shar' rather than 'car'.
- Lotta — Common in Scandinavian and German-speaking usage, where it also stands alone.
- Also Carlotta.
Who has carried each name
Camila
Camila Cabello (b. 1997) — Pop star whose "Havana" topped charts worldwide
Camila Mendes (b. 1994) — Riverdale's Veronica Lodge
Charlotte
Charlotte, Princess of Wales (b. 2015) — Daughter of Prince William and Princess Catherine, third in line to the British throne
Charlotte Brontë (b. 1816) — Wrote Jane Eyre
Charlotte Rampling (b. 1946) — Oscar-nominated British screen icon
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 Camila if you want…
- a name fewer children share#19 in 2025 — roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Camila
- a name past its most crowded yearsCamila is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itCamila runs 3 syllables, Charlotte 2
- a newer arrivalCamila entered the US charts in 1914
Choose Charlotte if you want…
- a name most people already know#2 in 2025, 13,400 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 3 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesCharlotte is 2 syllables to Camila's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooCharlotte is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland, England & Wales and France
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
Camila
Strengths
- Recognized on sight across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and English, with a matching form in most of Europe — useful in a bilingual family.
- A documented record stretching from Roman family names through Virgil to the present day, with no gap in use.
- Established short forms already in circulation: Cami, Mila, Cam, and the Spanish Camilita.
To consider
- The double-l Camilla is the older English and Italian spelling, so expect a spare l to be added by people writing it from hearing it.
- Its rise here is recent and steep, which means it currently reads as a name of children rather than of adults — that will even out as this generation grows.
- Mila and Cami are both popular in their own right, so the nickname may be shared in a classroom even when the full name is not.
Charlotte
Strengths
- Spelled one way in English and recognized on sight; almost nobody needs it repeated or clarified.
- Several established short forms with long histories of their own — Lottie, Charlie, Char — so the child has room to choose.
- Works unchanged in French, German and Dutch, and has close cousins in Carlotta and Carlota.
To consider
- It is currently near the very top of the US charts, so a Charlotte may well share a classroom or a soccer team with another one.
- Charlie is shared with boys named Charles, which some families like and others find muddling when nicknames get used at school.
- The French and English pronunciations differ in stress and in the final consonant, worth settling early in a bilingual household.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Camila
83%chance Camila feels dated by 2040
Camila is coming down from a big peak (#11 in 2020). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Charlotte
12%chance Charlotte feels dated by 2040
Charlotte has held the top-100 across 7 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 Camila and Charlotte 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 Camila and Charlotte?
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 Camila and Charlotte — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Camila or Charlotte — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Camila or Charlotte?
- Charlotte, in 2025: Charlotte ranked #2 with 13,400 babies; Camila ranked #19 with 6,591 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Camila or Charlotte?
- Charlotte. Over the last five years Camila moved down 8 places; Charlotte moved up 3 places.
- Which is the older name, Camila or Charlotte?
- Camila entered the US charts in 1914; Charlotte was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Charlotte is the older name.
- How many people are named Camila and Charlotte?
- About 123,000 people named Camila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 327,000 people named Charlotte are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Camilas or Charlottes in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Camila. Roughly 1 in 5 classrooms will have a child named Charlotte.
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 Camila, Charlotte 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