Head to head · Boys' names
Carlos vs Elliot
#150 vs #151 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Carlos is a whisker ahead (#150 vs #151 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name 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, Carlos leads 4 measures of 6; Elliot 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
- 1880s: Carlos #392, Elliot #827 — Carlos higher
- 1890s: Carlos #376, Elliot #772 — Carlos higher
- 1900s: Carlos #293, Elliot #970 — Carlos higher
- 1910s: Carlos #315, Elliot #819 — Carlos higher
- 1920s: Carlos #257, Elliot #717 — Carlos higher
- 1930s: Carlos #218, Elliot #678 — Carlos higher
- 1940s: Carlos #203, Elliot #504 — Carlos higher
- 1950s: Carlos #175, Elliot #587 — Carlos higher
- 1960s: Carlos #144, Elliot #634 — Carlos higher
- 1970s: Carlos #78, Elliot #592 — Carlos higher
- 1980s: Carlos #75, Elliot #414 — Carlos higher
- 1990s: Carlos #69, Elliot #433 — Carlos higher
- 2000s: Carlos #69, Elliot #391 — Carlos higher
- 2010s: Carlos #115, Elliot #215 — Carlos higher
- 2020s: Carlos #145, Elliot #159 — Carlos higher
Carlos stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Carlos | Elliot |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #392 | #827 |
| 1890s | #376 | #772 |
| 1900s | #293 | #970 |
| 1910s | #315 | #819 |
| 1920s | #257 | #717 |
| 1930s | #218 | #678 |
| 1940s | #203 | #504 |
| 1950s | #175 | #587 |
| 1960s | #144 | #634 |
| 1970s | #78 | #592 |
| 1980s | #75 | #414 |
| 1990s | #69 | #433 |
| 2000s | #69 | #391 |
| 2010s | #115 | #215 |
| 2020s | #145 | #159 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Carlos
Not charting outside the US.
Elliot
- Canada#54
- Scotland#85
- 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
Carlos
a free man
The Germanic word behind the name described a man who was free but held no rank. Spanish took the name through the Frankish emperors rather than directly, which is why it arrives with the Latin ending attached.
Karl → Carolus → Carlos
How it traveled
His death set off the largest war Europe had yet fought. He had signed a will leaving everything to a French prince, which would have joined the Spanish and French crowns; England, the Dutch and the Austrians went to war rather than allow it, and the fighting ran for over a decade across Europe and the Americas.
Elliot
from Elias/Elijah, Hebrew for 'my God is Yahweh'
The chain is well documented: Hebrew Eliyahu became Greek and Latin Elias, which medieval England shortened to Elis and French speakers dressed with the diminutive endings -ot and -et. A minority of English Elliot families instead trace their surname to Old English personal names beginning Æthel-, but the Elias route accounts for the name as it is used today.
Eliyahu → Elias → Elis → Eliot → Elliot
How it traveled
The Hebrew name Eliyahu reached western Europe as Elias, and by the Middle Ages English speakers were using it in the clipped form Elis. French diminutive suffixes turned that into Eliot, and once a personal name settles into everyday use it tends to harden into a surname — which is what happened, most visibly among the riding families of the Scottish Borders, where Elliot became one of the great Liddesdale names.
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
Carlos
KAR-lohs
Two syllables with the stress at the front. Spanish gives the final o a full clear vowel where English reduces it, which is the main audible difference.
- Carlitos — The standard Spanish affectionate form; warm and used well into adulthood.
- Los — The back of the name; informal and heavily American.
- Charlie — Borrowed from the English form; used where a family moves between languages.
Elliot
EL-ee-ut
Stress falls on the first syllable. Many speakers compress the middle, so it lands closer to EL-yut in ordinary speech. The spellings Elliot, Elliott and Eliot are all said the same way.
- Eli — The most common short form, and a fully established given name in its own right, so it works on a résumé as well as a playground.
- El — Informal, family-level, and gender-neutral.
- Ellie — Used informally, mostly for girls named Elliot; it overlaps with Ellie as a standalone name from Eleanor and Elizabeth.
- Elly — A spelling variant of the same informal short form.
- Also Ells.
Who has carried each name
Carlos
Carlos Santana (b. 1947) — Guitar legend behind "Smooth"
Carlos Alcaraz (b. 2003) — Youngest men's world No. 1 in tennis history
Carlos Slim (b. 1940) — Once the richest person in the world
Elliot
Elliot Page (b. 1987) — Juno and Inception star
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 Carlos if you want…
- a name holding steadyCarlos is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesCarlos is 2 syllables to Elliot's 3
Choose Elliot if you want…
- a name on the way upup 13 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itElliot runs 3 syllables, Carlos 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Eli, El and Ellie
- a name that charts abroad tooElliot is on the national lists of Canada, Scotland and England & Wales
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
Carlos
Strengths
- It is recognized instantly across the Spanish and Portuguese-speaking world.
- It has an established affectionate form rather than an improvised one.
- The spelling and the sound agree completely in both languages.
To consider
- It is common enough that a child may not be the only one nearby.
- English speakers reduce the final vowel, which Spanish speakers notice.
- The record holds girls as well, and the girl is much the smaller side.
Elliot
Strengths
- Eli is a ready-made short form that already stands alone as a name, so the child has a formal and an informal option from day one.
- Recognized across the English-speaking world — it charts in Canada, Scotland, and England and Wales as well as the US.
- Its parent name, Elias, has close relatives in German, French, Spanish and Italian, so the root travels even where this spelling does not.
To consider
- The three spellings — Elliot, Elliott and Eliot — sound identical, so this is a name that gets spelled aloud for life. Choosing the one-T version means correcting people who default to Elliott.
- Nearly every child given this spelling is a boy. A girl named Elliot will be read as a boy on paper more often than not, and that is worth deciding you are comfortable with rather than discovering later.
- The Ellie short form pulls toward girls' names, so a boy called Elliot may end up with Eli or El instead by his own preference.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Carlos
25%chance Carlos feels dated by 2040
Carlos peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Elliot
40%chance Elliot feels dated by 2040
Elliot sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Carlos and Elliot 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 Carlos and Elliot?
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
- The steadiest names in America
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- Spanish and Latin names with warmth
- Names ending in -s
- all guides
Where Carlos and Elliot each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Carlos or Elliot — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Carlos or Elliot?
- Carlos, in 2025: Carlos ranked #150 with 2,418 babies; Elliot ranked #151 with 2,417 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Carlos or Elliot?
- Elliot. Over the last five years Carlos moved down 1 place; Elliot moved up 13 places.
- Which is the older name, Carlos or Elliot?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Carlos and Elliot?
- About 274,000 people named Carlos are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 54,000 people named Elliot are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Carloss or Elliots in the classroom?
- Carlos will almost certainly be the only one in school. Elliot 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
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