Head to head · Girls' names
Diana vs Miriam
#244 vs #246 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Diana is a whisker ahead (#244 vs #246 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, Diana leads 4 measures of 6; Miriam 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: Diana #656, Miriam #292 — Miriam higher
- 1890s: Diana #633, Miriam #234 — Miriam higher
- 1900s: Diana #597, Miriam #192 — Miriam higher
- 1910s: Diana #507, Miriam #150 — Miriam higher
- 1920s: Diana #385, Miriam #155 — Miriam higher
- 1930s: Diana #206, Miriam #210 — Diana higher
- 1940s: Diana #64, Miriam #265 — Diana higher
- 1950s: Diana #51, Miriam #272 — Diana higher
- 1960s: Diana #64, Miriam #325 — Diana higher
- 1970s: Diana #94, Miriam #350 — Diana higher
- 1980s: Diana #80, Miriam #313 — Diana higher
- 1990s: Diana #99, Miriam #284 — Diana higher
- 2000s: Diana #115, Miriam #286 — Diana higher
- 2010s: Diana #241, Miriam #298 — Diana higher
- 2020s: Diana #236, Miriam #255 — Diana higher
Diana stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Diana has held the lead since the 1930s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Diana | Miriam |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #656 | #292 |
| 1890s | #633 | #234 |
| 1900s | #597 | #192 |
| 1910s | #507 | #150 |
| 1920s | #385 | #155 |
| 1930s | #206 | #210 |
| 1940s | #64 | #265 |
| 1950s | #51 | #272 |
| 1960s | #64 | #325 |
| 1970s | #94 | #350 |
| 1980s | #80 | #313 |
| 1990s | #99 | #284 |
| 2000s | #115 | #286 |
| 2010s | #241 | #298 |
| 2020s | #236 | #255 |
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
Diana
Bright, of the daylight
Built on the same ancient root as the Latin word for a day and the first part of the name Jupiter, with an underlying sense of brightness or the open sky. The association with the moon and with hunting came later and from Greek influence; the oldest layer of the name is about daylight rather than moonlight, which is the opposite of what most people are told.
Diana
How it traveled
The Aventine temple was outside the old religious boundary of the city, which mattered: it was where the people who were not fully inside Roman life went. Her festival fell in the middle of August and was kept as a day off for slaves, who could not be made to work and who washed their hair for it; the sanctuary offered refuge to anyone who reached it.
Miriam
Contested — readings include "bitter", "rebellion", and "beloved"
Hebrew scholars have long linked Miryam to mar, "bitter", or marah, "to rebel". A competing line, taken seriously by Egyptologists, connects it to Egyptian mry, "beloved", which fits a name borne by an Israelite woman born in Egypt. A further reading takes it as "wished-for child". No one reading has won.
Miryam (Hebrew) → Mariam (Greek) → Maria (Latin) → Mary (English) → Miriam (English)
How it traveled
Miriam begins as Hebrew Miryam, the prophetess of Exodus and Numbers. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek in the last centuries BC, Miryam became Mariam, and from there Latin took Maria — which is how the same name reached English twice, once as Mary and much later, straight from the Hebrew, as Miriam.
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
Diana
die-AN-uh
Three syllables with the stress in the middle in English. Spanish and Italian say dee-AH-nah, with a long first vowel, and French drops the last syllable altogether. All three are the same name and all three are current in the United States.
- Di — The first syllable alone; short, and the form most Dianas are actually called.
- Annie — Taken from the middle and softened, which disguises the name completely.
- Dee — The first sound only; unisex, and shared with a great many other names.
- Dina — The name compressed to two syllables, which makes a separate name in several languages.
Miriam
MEER-ee-am
Most Americans say MEER-ee-am; MIRR-ee-am, with the vowel of "mirror", is also standard and widely heard. In Hebrew it is closer to meer-YAHM, with the stress at the end.
- Mimi — Informal and long established; also used on its own and as a grandmother name in some families.
- Miri — Common in Israel and in Hebrew-speaking families; used both at home and as a stand-alone name.
- Mim — Clipped, informal, mostly family and school use.
- Mira — Everyday short form that also exists independently as a given name in several languages.
- Also Mitzi.
Who has carried each name
Diana
Diana, Princess of Wales (b. 1961) — The "People's Princess"
Diana Ross (b. 1944) — Motown legend who fronted The Supremes
Diana Taurasi (b. 1982) — The WNBA's all-time scoring leader
Miriam
Miriam Makeba (b. 1932) — "Mama Africa" — Grammy-winning singer and activist
Miriam Margolyes (b. 1941) — Harry Potter's Professor Sprout
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 Diana if you want…
- a name holding steadyDiana is holding its place on the charts
Choose Miriam if you want…
- a name on the way upup 22 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
Diana
Strengths
- It is spelled identically in Spanish, Italian, Russian and Romanian, and needs no adjustment anywhere.
- The name has been in continuous English use for centuries without ever sounding old-fashioned.
- Several short forms in different registers, from the brisk Di to the entirely disguised Annie.
To consider
- The name is on record for boys in small numbers, so it is not quite the absolute signal people assume.
- One twentieth-century bearer is famous enough that the name carries her story for a whole generation.
- Two live pronunciations exist in America, one English and one Spanish, and families with both will have to choose.
Miriam
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone can read on sight, because it sits so close to Mary and Maria.
- Unbroken presence in American records from the very start of them — familiar in every generation without being crowded.
- Travels intact: Maryam in Arabic, Mirjam in German, Myriam in French, Miryam in Hebrew all point back to the same woman.
To consider
- The "bitter" reading is the one most often quoted in name books. It is only one of several serious readings, but it is the one relatives are likely to bring up.
- Two standard pronunciations, MEER- and MIRR-, means the occasional correction. Neither is wrong, so it is worth deciding which one your family uses.
- Myriam, Mirriam and Mariam are all real names, so expect a spelling check now and then on forms and rosters.
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 Diana and Miriam 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
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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 Diana and Miriam — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Diana or Miriam — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Diana or Miriam?
- Diana, in 2025: Diana ranked #244 with 1,277 babies; Miriam ranked #246 with 1,262 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Diana or Miriam?
- Miriam. Over the last five years Diana moved up 1 place; Miriam moved up 22 places.
- Which is the older name, Diana or Miriam?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Diana and Miriam?
- About 314,000 people named Diana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 75,000 people named Miriam are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dianas or Miriams in the classroom?
- Diana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Miriam 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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