Head to head · Girls' names
Daniella vs Meredith
#468 vs #469 in 2025
Daniella is a whisker ahead (#468 vs #469 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Daniella is holding its place on the charts, Meredith is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Meredith 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
On the charts, Meredith leads 4 measures of 6; Daniella leads 2.
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: Daniella —, Meredith #1426 — Meredith higher
- 1900s: Daniella —, Meredith #1400 — Meredith higher
- 1910s: Daniella —, Meredith #924 — Meredith higher
- 1920s: Daniella —, Meredith #770 — Meredith higher
- 1930s: Daniella —, Meredith #607 — Meredith higher
- 1940s: Daniella —, Meredith #443 — Meredith higher
- 1950s: Daniella #5584, Meredith #539 — Meredith higher
- 1960s: Daniella #2766, Meredith #541 — Meredith higher
- 1970s: Daniella #1202, Meredith #178 — Meredith higher
- 1980s: Daniella #732, Meredith #149 — Meredith higher
- 1990s: Daniella #443, Meredith #232 — Meredith higher
- 2000s: Daniella #325, Meredith #362 — Daniella higher
- 2010s: Daniella #327, Meredith #586 — Daniella higher
- 2020s: Daniella #450, Meredith #529 — Daniella higher
Meredith stood higher in 11 of 14 decades; Daniella has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Daniella | Meredith |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1426 |
| 1900s | — | #1400 |
| 1910s | — | #924 |
| 1920s | — | #770 |
| 1930s | — | #607 |
| 1940s | — | #443 |
| 1950s | #5584 | #539 |
| 1960s | #2766 | #541 |
| 1970s | #1202 | #178 |
| 1980s | #732 | #149 |
| 1990s | #443 | #232 |
| 2000s | #325 | #362 |
| 2010s | #327 | #586 |
| 2020s | #450 | #529 |
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
Daniella
God is my judge
From the Hebrew Daniyyel, combining the verb for judging with El, one of the names of God.
Daniyyel → Daniel → Daniela → Danielle → Daniella
How it traveled
The root is Hebrew: Daniyyel, borne in the Hebrew Bible by the prophet whose book gave the world the lions' den and the writing on the wall. Daniel traveled into Greek and Latin with the biblical text, then into every European language, and became one of the steadiest boys' names in the Western record.
Meredith
Not established
The second element is generally read as iudd, a lord, which is well attested in Welsh names. The first is not agreed: proposals include a word for great or splendor, and none is demonstrated. Great lord is the usual gloss and it is a reconstruction of half a name. Meredith is the English spelling of Maredudd, and the surname form is Meredydd or Bedward in various renderings; the given name in English use descends from the surname.
Maredudd → Meredydd → Meredith
How it traveled
A men's name crosses to women by a fairly reliable route: it becomes a surname, the surname gets used as a first name for boys, it sounds soft enough to be given to a girl once, and once it is common for girls it stops being given to boys entirely. Meredith is a textbook case, and the crossing happened in America between the nineteen-twenties and the nineteen-fifties.
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
Daniella
dan-YEL-uh
Four syllables are also common: dan-ee-EL-uh. Both are accepted, and speakers of Spanish, Italian and Portuguese will naturally reach for the second.
- Dani — The everyday short form across all the Daniel/Daniela family; also given on its own, and used for men and women alike.
- Ella — Taken from the end of the name; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Dana — Occasional informal shortening; independently a given name of separate origin.
- Nella — Informal, family-level shortening from the middle of the name.
- Also Ellie.
Meredith
MAIR-uh-dith
MAIR-uh-dith, three syllables, stress at the front, the middle reduced. Welsh Maredudd puts the weight on the middle syllable and ends in a sound English does not have, so the two versions are audibly different names.
- Merry — The front softened, which lands on an English word and is used knowingly.
- Edie — Built from the middle and the end, and a standing name of its own.
- Mer — The front clipped, short and used among friends rather than on paper.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Daniella if you want…
- a name holding steadyDaniella is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Dani, Ella and Dana
Choose Meredith if you want…
- a name on the way upup 116 places on the charts in five years
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
Daniella
Strengths
- Meaning is not in doubt: 'God is my judge,' from a Hebrew name documented for more than two millennia.
- Recognizable in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, French and Hebrew — a family that travels without translation.
- Comes with short forms already in real use: Dani, Ella, Nella, Ellie.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating. Daniela, Danielle and Daniella all sound nearly identical aloud, and people default to whichever they saw first.
- The -ella ending sits in busy company — Isabella, Gabriella, Ella, Bella — so the name may echo others in a friendship group even if the full form does not repeat.
- Dani is unisex and shared with Daniel, which is handy on a form and less distinctive on a sports roster.
Meredith
Strengths
- It has a documented thousand-year history as a Welsh princely name.
- Merry, Mer and Edie are three short forms in three quite different registers.
- Three syllables with a firm front stress, which carries a short surname well.
To consider
- In Wales this is a man's name, and Welsh speakers will read it that way whatever an American form says.
- The meaning is only half recoverable, so any gloss offered is a reconstruction.
- It is strongly associated with the middle of the last century in America.
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 Daniella and Meredith 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 Daniella and Meredith?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Daniella and Meredith — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Daniella or Meredith — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Daniella or Meredith?
- Daniella, in 2025: Daniella ranked #468 with 657 babies; Meredith ranked #469 with 656 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Daniella or Meredith?
- Meredith. Over the last five years Daniella moved down 55 places; Meredith moved up 116 places.
- Which is the older name, Daniella or Meredith?
- Daniella entered the US charts in 1951; Meredith entered the US charts in 1895. On the American record, Meredith is the older name.
- How many people are named Daniella and Meredith?
- About 33,500 people named Daniella are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 72,000 people named Meredith are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Daniellas or Merediths in the classroom?
- Daniella will almost certainly be the only one in school. Meredith 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Daniella, Meredith and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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