Head to head · Girls' names
Chana vs Dallas
#686 vs #686 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Chana and Dallas share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#686). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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, Dallas leads 3 measures of 6; Chana 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
- 1890s: Chana —, Dallas #1264 — Dallas higher
- 1900s: Chana —, Dallas #1287 — Dallas higher
- 1910s: Chana —, Dallas #1235 — Dallas higher
- 1920s: Chana —, Dallas #1283 — Dallas higher
- 1930s: Chana —, Dallas #1332 — Dallas higher
- 1940s: Chana #4118, Dallas #1570 — Dallas higher
- 1950s: Chana #2524, Dallas #1725 — Dallas higher
- 1960s: Chana #1456, Dallas #2287 — Chana higher
- 1970s: Chana #1077, Dallas #1792 — Chana higher
- 1980s: Chana #890, Dallas #1318 — Chana higher
- 1990s: Chana #1048, Dallas #804 — Dallas higher
- 2000s: Chana #957, Dallas #1144 — Chana higher
- 2010s: Chana #810, Dallas #724 — Dallas higher
- 2020s: Chana #744, Dallas #645 — Dallas higher
Dallas stood higher in 10 of 14 decades; Dallas has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Chana | Dallas |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1264 |
| 1900s | — | #1287 |
| 1910s | — | #1235 |
| 1920s | — | #1283 |
| 1930s | — | #1332 |
| 1940s | #4118 | #1570 |
| 1950s | #2524 | #1725 |
| 1960s | #1456 | #2287 |
| 1970s | #1077 | #1792 |
| 1980s | #890 | #1318 |
| 1990s | #1048 | #804 |
| 2000s | #957 | #1144 |
| 2010s | #810 | #724 |
| 2020s | #744 | #645 |
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
Chana
grace, favor
From the Hebrew root ḥen, grace or favor — the same root behind the name Yochanan, and so behind John and Jane as well.
Ḥannah (Hebrew) → Chana → Anna (Greek) → Hannah → Anne
How it traveled
Chana is the Ashkenazi transliteration of the Hebrew חַנָּה, the name of the woman in the Book of Samuel who prayed silently at Shiloh and was given a son. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, the guttural first sound had no equivalent and was simply dropped — giving Anna, which traveled through Latin into nearly every European language as Anne, Ana, Hanna and Hannah.
Dallas
most likely 'meadow dwelling' or 'meadow by the waterfall'
The Scottish place name behind it is read two ways. One reading takes it from Brythonic or Pictish elements meaning roughly 'meadow' and 'dwelling'; the other from Gaelic dail ('meadow, haugh') with eas ('waterfall'). Both point at low green ground beside water, which is why the two readings sit together comfortably rather than canceling each other out.
Dallas (lands in Moray, Scotland) → Dolays (medieval Scottish surname) → Dallas (Scottish surname) → Dallas (given name)
How it traveled
The lands of Dallas lie in Moray, and by the medieval period a family had taken their name from them, appearing in Scottish records in forms such as Dolays before settling into the modern spelling. Emigration carried the surname to North America, where — as happened to Scottish surnames generally — it began to be handed out as a first name.
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
Chana
KHAH-nah
The ch is the guttural of Bach, challah and Chanukah, not the ch of chair. Many English speakers land on HAH-nah instead, which most bearers accept without correction.
- Chani — The standard short form in Orthodox and Hasidic communities, and often used as the everyday name from childhood on.
- Chanie — The same short form with a Yiddish-style spelling; both appear within the same families.
- Chana'le — Yiddish affectionate diminutive, used mostly by older relatives and in the home.
- Hana — A softened everyday form some bearers use with people who find the initial sound difficult.
Dallas
DAL-us
Stress on the first syllable. The second is an unstressed 'us' or 'is' depending on region; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting.
- Dal — The usual clipped form, informal and mostly spoken rather than written.
- Dally — An affectionate family form, used more with small children than with adults.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Chana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 96 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Chani, Chanie and Chana'le
Choose Dallas if you want…
- a name holding steadyDallas is holding its place on the charts
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
Chana
Strengths
- Shares an origin with Hannah, Anna and Anne, so the meaning and the story are recognizable even to people meeting this spelling for the first time.
- Two clean syllables and four letters, easy to write early and easy to say once the opening sound is learned.
- Established short forms already in real use — Chani and Chanie — rather than ones a family would have to invent.
To consider
- The opening sound has no English equivalent. Outside communities that know it, expect a lifetime of gentle correcting — or of letting HAH-nah stand, which many bearers do.
- In the US this spelling is closely tied to Orthodox and Hasidic Jewish families. For many that is precisely the point; it is worth knowing it reads as a clear marker of identity.
- Chana is also the Hindi and Urdu word for chickpea, familiar from restaurant menus, and a Spanish short form of Susana. Neither causes real trouble, but both will occasionally come up.
Dallas
Strengths
- Unbroken presence in American records since the earliest years of national name statistics — long familiarity, without ever having been a crowd.
- A spelling nobody has to be told twice: the city has taught it to every English speaker.
- Given to both boys and girls, so the name itself needs no adjustment either way.
To consider
- The place association is unavoidable. Most people will think of the Texas city, the football team, or the television series that ran from the late 1970s into the early 1990s, and some will hear the city's link to the Kennedy assassination.
- Strongest in Texas, Georgia and California — inside Texas especially, the name and the city are hard to separate, which may read as local pride or as a lot to carry.
- It leans boy in the records. A girl named Dallas is in a real but smaller group, and may occasionally be assumed a boy on paper before she is met in person.
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 Chana and Dallas in full.
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Decide together
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Chana or Dallas — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Chana or Dallas?
- They tie in 2025: Chana ranked #686 with 413 babies; Dallas ranked #686 with 413 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Chana or Dallas?
- Chana. Over the last five years Chana moved up 96 places; Dallas moved down 54 places.
- Which is the older name, Chana or Dallas?
- Chana entered the US charts in 1944; Dallas entered the US charts in 1892. On the American record, Dallas is the older name.
- How many people are named Chana and Dallas?
- About 13,500 people named Chana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 14,500 people named Dallas are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Chanas or Dallass in the classroom?
- Chana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Dallas 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
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