Head to head · Girls' names
Charlotte vs Olivia
#2 vs #1 in 2025
Olivia is a whisker ahead (#1 vs #2 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Olivia is holding its place on the charts, Charlotte is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Charlotte has the edge.
Cast your vote2 votes
Which one would you pick?
2 parents have voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Olivia leads 4 measures of 6; Charlotte 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: Charlotte #92, Olivia #248 — Charlotte higher
- 1890s: Charlotte #102, Olivia #263 — Charlotte higher
- 1900s: Charlotte #106, Olivia #260 — Charlotte higher
- 1910s: Charlotte #85, Olivia #284 — Charlotte higher
- 1920s: Charlotte #77, Olivia #296 — Charlotte higher
- 1930s: Charlotte #70, Olivia #318 — Charlotte higher
- 1940s: Charlotte #59, Olivia #262 — Charlotte higher
- 1950s: Charlotte #115, Olivia #351 — Charlotte higher
- 1960s: Charlotte #155, Olivia #484 — Charlotte higher
- 1970s: Charlotte #222, Olivia #354 — Charlotte higher
- 1980s: Charlotte #290, Olivia #204 — Olivia higher
- 1990s: Charlotte #293, Olivia #43 — Olivia higher
- 2000s: Charlotte #159, Olivia #7 — Olivia higher
- 2010s: Charlotte #15, Olivia #3 — Olivia higher
- 2020s: Charlotte #3, Olivia #1 — Olivia higher
Charlotte stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Olivia has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Charlotte | Olivia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #92 | #248 |
| 1890s | #102 | #263 |
| 1900s | #106 | #260 |
| 1910s | #85 | #284 |
| 1920s | #77 | #296 |
| 1930s | #70 | #318 |
| 1940s | #59 | #262 |
| 1950s | #115 | #351 |
| 1960s | #155 | #484 |
| 1970s | #222 | #354 |
| 1980s | #290 | #204 |
| 1990s | #293 | #43 |
| 2000s | #159 | #7 |
| 2010s | #15 | #3 |
| 2020s | #3 | #1 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Charlotte
- Canada#2
- Scotland#14
- England & Wales#23
- France#41
Olivia
- England & Wales#1
- Canada#1
- Scotland#3
- France#19
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
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.
Olivia
'Olive', from Latin oliva — though the route into English is debated
Two serious accounts compete. One takes Olivia straight from Latin oliva, the olive tree, by way of the medieval name Oliva and its English form Olive. The other treats it as a feminine form built on Oliver, a name whose own origin is argued over — Germanic in some readings, olive-related in others. Either way, the olive sits in the name's history; the disagreement is over how it got there.
oliva (Latin, 'olive') → Oliva → Olive → Olivia
How it traveled
The Latin oliva gave the medieval Christian name Oliva and its English cousin Olive, both in use in England well before Shakespeare. The spelling Olivia appears for the wealthy, mourning countess of Twelfth Night, and the play kept it alive in print for centuries afterward.
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
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.
Olivia
oh-LIV-ee-uh
Stress falls on the second syllable. The first syllable is often reduced to a quick 'uh' in fast speech, and some speakers run the ending into three syllables, oh-LIV-yuh. Both are ordinary and neither needs correcting.
- Liv — The most widespread short form; also a given name in its own right in Norway and Sweden, where it stands independently of Olivia.
- Livvy — Informal and affectionate, mostly used within families and among friends rather than on paperwork.
- Olive — The older English name that predates Olivia, and now used both as a nickname for it and as a full given name on its own.
- Ollie — Casual and unisex; shared with Oliver and Olive, so it rarely identifies the full name on its own.
- Also Via.
Who has carried each name
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
Olivia
Olivia Rodrigo (b. 2003) — Pop phenomenon whose debut single "drivers license" shattered streaming records
Olivia de Havilland (b. 1916) — Two-time Oscar winner and Gone with the Wind star who lived to 104
Olivia Newton-John (b. 1948) — Grease's Sandy and a four-time Grammy winner
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 Charlotte if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesCharlotte is 2 syllables to Olivia's 4
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Olivia
Choose Olivia if you want…
- a name with more sound in itOlivia runs 4 syllables, Charlotte 2
- a name that feels very nowOlivia 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
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.
Olivia
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese, and near enough in Polish and Hungarian, so it survives travel and family ties abroad.
- A deep bench of established short forms — Liv, Livvy, Olive, Ollie — none of which needed inventing.
- Currently ranked in England and Wales, Canada, Scotland and France as well as the US, which is rare for an English given name.
To consider
- This is one of the most-used girls' names in the country right now. A child called Olivia will very likely meet others, and may go by Olivia plus a last initial at school.
- Oliver is equally widespread for boys, so Ollie and Liv circulate in the same classrooms. Worth thinking about if you are also considering Oliver for a sibling.
- Because so many Olivias are children and teenagers today, the name reads as distinctly of this generation — much as Jennifer or Linda mark theirs. That may or may not matter to you.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
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.
Olivia
40%chance Olivia feels dated by 2040
Olivia 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 Charlotte and Olivia 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 Charlotte and Olivia?
Put both to the vote.
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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 that carry both names
- Transatlantic hits: loved on both sides of the ocean
- America's top 100 names right now
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- all guides
Every list here names both Charlotte and Olivia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Charlotte or Olivia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Charlotte or Olivia?
- Olivia, in 2025: Olivia ranked #1 with 13,544 babies; Charlotte ranked #2 with 13,400 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Charlotte or Olivia?
- Charlotte. Over the last five years Charlotte moved up 3 places; Olivia is holding its place on the charts.
- Which is the older name, Charlotte or Olivia?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Charlotte and Olivia?
- About 327,000 people named Charlotte are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 544,000 people named Olivia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Charlottes or Olivias in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 5 classrooms will have a child named Charlotte. Roughly 1 in 5 classrooms will have a child named Olivia.
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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