Head to head · Girls' names
Davina vs Karina
#749 vs #749 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Davina and Karina share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#749). 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, Karina leads 2 measures of 6; Davina 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
- 1910s: Davina #4417, Karina — — Davina higher
- 1920s: Davina #4244, Karina — — Davina higher
- 1940s: Davina #3701, Karina — — Davina higher
- 1950s: Davina #2977, Karina #3504 — Davina higher
- 1960s: Davina #1718, Karina #1505 — Karina higher
- 1970s: Davina #796, Karina #643 — Karina higher
- 1980s: Davina #1030, Karina #312 — Karina higher
- 1990s: Davina #1387, Karina #142 — Karina higher
- 2000s: Davina #1992, Karina #204 — Karina higher
- 2010s: Davina #1284, Karina #449 — Karina higher
- 2020s: Davina #636, Karina #711 — Davina higher
Karina stood higher in 6 of 11 decades; Davina took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Davina | Karina |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #4417 | — |
| 1920s | #4244 | — |
| 1940s | #3701 | — |
| 1950s | #2977 | #3504 |
| 1960s | #1718 | #1505 |
| 1970s | #796 | #643 |
| 1980s | #1030 | #312 |
| 1990s | #1387 | #142 |
| 2000s | #1992 | #204 |
| 2010s | #1284 | #449 |
| 2020s | #636 | #711 |
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
Davina
Beloved
Davina is built directly on David, from Hebrew Dawid, long understood as 'beloved'. The -ina ending is a feminine suffix, not a separate element with a meaning of its own.
Dawid → David → Davina
How it traveled
David came into European use from the Hebrew Bible, and it took particularly deep root in Scotland, where two medieval kings of Scots carried it — David I in the twelfth century and David II in the fourteenth. Scottish naming custom liked to pass a father's or grandfather's name to a daughter by adding a feminine ending, which is how Davina appears in Scottish records from the seventeenth century onward, alongside sisters of the same pattern like Georgina and Williamina.
Karina
Either "dear little one" (Latin) or a Scandinavian form of Katherine
Two genuine lines feed this name. One runs from Latin cara, "dear", through Carina — the same word also means "keel of a ship" and names a southern constellation. The other runs through Swedish and Norwegian Karin, a shortening of Katarina, with Karina as its elaborated form; Katherine's own meaning was never settled, though Greek speakers long linked it to katharos, "pure". Both readings are respectable, and most families carrying the name today sit on one road or the other depending on where their branch of it came from.
Aikaterine → Katharina → Katarina → Karin → Karina
How it traveled
The Katherine road is the older and better traced: Greek Aikaterine passed into Latin as Katharina, into Scandinavian as Katarina, and there ordinary speech clipped it to Karin — after which Karina appears as the fuller, Latin-flavored version. Alongside it, Carina existed independently in Italian and Spanish from the adjective cara, "dear", and in the Latin of astronomers as the keel of the ship Argo.
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
Davina
duh-VEE-nuh
The Scottish and British standard is duh-VEE-nuh. Some American speakers say duh-VY-nuh, with the middle syllable rhyming with 'shine'. Both are in real use, so expect to state your preference now and then.
- Vina — The most common clipped form, taken from the stressed middle syllable; also used on its own as a given name.
- Dava — Informal short form from the first half of the name.
- Dee — An initial-based nickname shared with many D names, used casually rather than on documents.
- Davie — Borrowed from the David side of the family tree; used for boys and girls alike in Scotland.
- Also Vinnie.
Karina
kuh-REE-nuh
Spanish and Russian speakers say kah-REE-nah, with a fuller first vowel; the stress falls on the middle syllable in every language that uses the name. A minority of English speakers reach for kuh-RYE-nuh on first sight, so expect to correct that occasionally.
- Kari — The most common English short form; also stands alone as a given name in Norway, where it came from Katarina directly.
- Rina — Informal, taken from the end of the name; a standalone given name in Italy, Israel and Japan.
- Kaya — Informal reshaping used within families rather than in the wider record.
- Kiki — Playful and informal, used mostly among friends and by younger speakers.
- Also Nina.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Davina if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Davina from Karina.
Choose Karina if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKarina is stepping back from its peak
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
Davina
Strengths
- Its meaning is unambiguous and easy to explain: it is David, 'beloved', in a feminine form.
- The spelling follows directly from a name almost everyone already knows, so it is usually written correctly once heard.
- Several established short forms — Vina, Dava, Dee — give a child options without needing a second name.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate: duh-VEE-nuh and duh-VY-nuh. Neither is wrong, but she will correct people occasionally, and the correction is a lifelong small habit.
- The close cousins Davinia, Davena and Davida sound similar enough that some people will reach for the wrong one when writing it down.
- The link to David is transparent, so people may assume there is a David in the family and ask about it. Fine if there is one, mildly repetitive if there isn't.
Karina
Strengths
- Spelled identically in English, Spanish, Polish, Russian and Scandinavian usage, so it crosses borders and families without adjustment.
- Reads exactly as it is written for most English speakers, and has short forms already in real use: Kari, Rina.
- Familiar to nearly everyone through adult bearers, while a child carrying it is unlikely to share it in a classroom.
To consider
- The K is not the only option people expect. Carina, Karyna, Karena and Kareena are all in circulation, so the spelling will need saying aloud on forms and reservations for life.
- Pronunciation splits by language rather than by error: kuh-REE-nuh in English, kah-REE-nah in Spanish and Russian. Worth deciding early which one you will use at home, and being relaxed about hearing the other.
- The meaning depends on which ancestry you claim — "dear" from the Latin side, or the Katherine line through Karin. If a settled, single answer matters to you, this name will not give one.
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 Davina and Karina 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 Davina and Karina?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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
Where Davina and Karina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Davina or Karina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Davina or Karina?
- They tie in 2025: Davina ranked #749 with 363 babies; Karina ranked #749 with 363 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Davina or Karina?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Davina moved down 119 places; Karina moved down 139 places.
- Which is the older name, Davina or Karina?
- Davina entered the US charts in 1916; Karina entered the US charts in 1956. On the American record, Davina is the older name.
- How many people are named Davina and Karina?
- About 11,000 people named Davina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 60,500 people named Karina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Davinas or Karinas in the classroom?
- Davina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Karina 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 Davina, Karina and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap