Head to head · Girls' names
Camilla vs Carmen
#361 vs #389 in 2025
Camilla is ahead (#361 vs #389 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Camilla is stepping back from its peak, Carmen is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Carmen 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
The tape is even: Camilla and Carmen each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Camilla #589, Carmen #586 — Carmen higher
- 1890s: Camilla #584, Carmen #442 — Carmen higher
- 1900s: Camilla #604, Carmen #332 — Carmen higher
- 1910s: Camilla #602, Carmen #271 — Carmen higher
- 1920s: Camilla #643, Carmen #211 — Carmen higher
- 1930s: Camilla #644, Carmen #205 — Carmen higher
- 1940s: Camilla #647, Carmen #207 — Carmen higher
- 1950s: Camilla #824, Carmen #178 — Carmen higher
- 1960s: Camilla #817, Carmen #161 — Carmen higher
- 1970s: Camilla #1031, Carmen #159 — Carmen higher
- 1980s: Camilla #1189, Carmen #212 — Carmen higher
- 1990s: Camilla #1252, Carmen #260 — Carmen higher
- 2000s: Camilla #860, Carmen #270 — Carmen higher
- 2010s: Camilla #377, Carmen #378 — Camilla higher
- 2020s: Camilla #317, Carmen #427 — Camilla higher
Carmen stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Camilla has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Camilla | Carmen |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #589 | #586 |
| 1890s | #584 | #442 |
| 1900s | #604 | #332 |
| 1910s | #602 | #271 |
| 1920s | #643 | #211 |
| 1930s | #644 | #205 |
| 1940s | #647 | #207 |
| 1950s | #824 | #178 |
| 1960s | #817 | #161 |
| 1970s | #1031 | #159 |
| 1980s | #1189 | #212 |
| 1990s | #1252 | #260 |
| 2000s | #860 | #270 |
| 2010s | #377 | #378 |
| 2020s | #317 | #427 |
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
Camilla
From the Roman family name Camillus; linked to Latin camillus, a youth who assisted at religious ceremonies
The Latin word camillus — a young attendant at a sacrifice — is well documented, and the name is usually traced to it. But the word itself is not native Latin and is generally thought to have come from Etruscan, a language whose vocabulary is only partly understood, so the meaning behind the meaning stays open.
Camillus → Camilla → Camille → Camila
How it traveled
Camilla is the feminine form of the old Roman cognomen Camillus, borne by patrician families of the Republic. Virgil made the name famous by giving it to a warrior maiden of the Volsci in the Aeneid, raised in the woods and faster on foot than the wind — a figure schoolchildren met for centuries wherever Latin was taught.
Carmen
'garden, orchard' through Mount Carmel — or 'song, poem' in Latin
The Spanish name comes from the Marian title Our Lady of Mount Carmel; Carmel is a Hebrew place name usually read as 'garden' or 'orchard'. Separately, Latin carmen means 'song, poem, incantation' — an exact match in form, and the reading many people know first thanks to the opera. Both are real; neither cancels the other.
Karmel → Carmel → María del Carmen → Carmen
How it traveled
The name grew out of Catholic devotion in Spain, where María del Carmen honored Our Lady of Mount Carmel — Carmel being the ridge in northern Israel where the Carmelite order traces its beginnings. Spanish families shortened the compound to Carmen, and it traveled with them across the Atlantic, which is why it remains strongest in the states with the deepest Spanish-speaking histories.
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
Camilla
kuh-MIL-uh
Stress falls on the middle syllable in English. Italian speakers place it on the first: KAH-mee-lah.
- Cami — The most common everyday short form in the US; also spelled Cammie or Cammy.
- Milla — Informal, taken from the second half of the name; also used as a given name in its own right.
- Millie — Long-established short form; reaches other children through Millicent and Mildred as well.
- Cam — Clipped and casual, and shared with boys named Cameron.
- Also Mila.
Carmen
KAR-men
Stress on the first syllable in both English and Spanish. Spanish speakers tap the r and give the final syllable a clearer 'e'; English speakers usually soften it to 'muhn'. No version is a mispronunciation.
- Carmie — The usual English-language short form, informal and family-side.
- Carmencita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate rather than formal; also used as a name in its own right.
- Mamen — Spanish short form specifically for the compound María del Carmen.
- Menchu — A Spanish hypocoristic for Carmen, informal and often kept for life.
- Also Carmina.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Camilla if you want…
- a name most people already know#361 in 2025, 847 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsCamilla is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itCamilla runs 3 syllables, Carmen 2
- a long American recordCamilla was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Carmen if you want…
- a name fewer children share#389 in 2025 — carmen will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 44 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesCarmen is 2 syllables to Camilla's 3
- a newer arrivalCarmen entered the US charts in 1881
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
Camilla
Strengths
- A documented history stretching from Republican Rome through Virgil to the present, with no gap needing explanation.
- Recognized across Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Polish in closely related forms, so it travels without translation.
- Several long-established short forms — Cami, Milla, Millie — none of which had to be invented for it.
To consider
- The single-l Spanish form Camila is widely used in the US, so expect to correct the spelling fairly often — and to hear the two names read as the same one.
- Nicknames go in two directions: Cami and Milla lead to quite different everyday names, and other people will pick for you unless you settle it early.
- In Britain the name currently belongs to Queen Camilla, which gives it a formal, slightly aristocratic echo in some ears — noticeable mainly if your family has UK ties.
Carmen
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Spanish, French, Italian and Romanian — it crosses borders without adjustment or translation.
- Two syllables, phonetic, and already familiar to English speakers, so it rarely needs spelling out or repeating.
- An unbroken record in US births going back to the nineteenth century, without ever becoming a fad name.
To consider
- Bizet's heroine is the first association for many people, and she is written as a seductress who dies at the end of the third act. It is a famous role rather than a slur, but the name arrives with that story attached.
- Carmen Sandiego, the globe-trotting thief from the geography games, is a live reference for anyone who was a child in the 1990s — usually offered affectionately.
- In Italian and Italian-American families Carmen is also a man's name, reached through Carmine. Confusion is uncommon in the US, where the girls' side dominates, but forms and mailing lists occasionally guess wrong.
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 Camilla and Carmen 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 Camilla and Carmen?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Ancient Roman names in modern use
- Renaissance names from the Italian courts
- Names ending in -la
- all guides
Where Camilla and Carmen each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Camilla or Carmen — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Camilla or Carmen?
- Camilla, in 2025: Camilla ranked #361 with 847 babies; Carmen ranked #389 with 798 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Camilla or Carmen?
- Carmen. Over the last five years Camilla moved down 98 places; Carmen moved up 44 places.
- Which is the older name, Camilla or Carmen?
- Camilla was already in use when US records began in 1880; Carmen entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Camilla is the older name.
- How many people are named Camilla and Carmen?
- About 25,500 people named Camilla are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 111,000 people named Carmen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Camillas or Carmens in the classroom?
- Camilla will almost certainly be the only one in school. Carmen 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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