Head to head · Girls' names
Dorothy vs Opal
#421 vs #423 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
Dorothy is a whisker ahead (#421 vs #423 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. 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, Dorothy leads 4 measures of 6; Opal 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: Dorothy #127, Opal #438 — Dorothy higher
- 1890s: Dorothy #60, Opal #220 — Dorothy higher
- 1900s: Dorothy #12, Opal #103 — Dorothy higher
- 1910s: Dorothy #3, Opal #90 — Dorothy higher
- 1920s: Dorothy #2, Opal #124 — Dorothy higher
- 1930s: Dorothy #6, Opal #212 — Dorothy higher
- 1940s: Dorothy #21, Opal #383 — Dorothy higher
- 1950s: Dorothy #62, Opal #738 — Dorothy higher
- 1960s: Dorothy #129, Opal #1165 — Dorothy higher
- 1970s: Dorothy #233, Opal #1480 — Dorothy higher
- 1980s: Dorothy #341, Opal #2080 — Dorothy higher
- 1990s: Dorothy #577, Opal #3703 — Dorothy higher
- 2000s: Dorothy #923, Opal #3059 — Dorothy higher
- 2010s: Dorothy #750, Opal #1373 — Dorothy higher
- 2020s: Dorothy #470, Opal #512 — Dorothy higher
Dorothy stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Dorothy | Opal |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #127 | #438 |
| 1890s | #60 | #220 |
| 1900s | #12 | #103 |
| 1910s | #3 | #90 |
| 1920s | #2 | #124 |
| 1930s | #6 | #212 |
| 1940s | #21 | #383 |
| 1950s | #62 | #738 |
| 1960s | #129 | #1165 |
| 1970s | #233 | #1480 |
| 1980s | #341 | #2080 |
| 1990s | #577 | #3703 |
| 2000s | #923 | #3059 |
| 2010s | #750 | #1373 |
| 2020s | #470 | #512 |
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
Dorothy
gift of God
From the Greek doron, a gift, and theos, God. The meaning has never been disputed and has never shifted.
Dorothea → Dorothy
How it traveled
The legend attached to Saint Dorothy is short and very hard to forget. On her way to execution in the depths of winter, a lawyer named Theophilus mocked her and asked her to send him fruit and flowers from the garden of paradise she was so sure of.
Opal
the gemstone opal
The name is the stone's, and the stone's own name is disputed. One account traces it through Latin opalus from a Sanskrit word for a stone or a jewel; another derives it from a Greek word about seeing. The two are not compatible and neither has been settled.
upala → opalus → Opal
How it traveled
An opal is not a crystal. It is silica that never organized itself into one — hardened jelly, in effect, holding as much as a fifth of its weight in water, which is why an opal can craze and crack if it dries out.
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
Dorothy
DOR-uh-thee
Three syllables with the weight at the front. German and Polish give the fuller form four, and put the weight on the third.
- Dot — The oldest English short form, cut from the front; still the commonest among women of an earlier generation.
- Dottie — The affectionate version of the same cut, used at home and often on later paperwork.
- Dolly — An older short form arrived at by a change of consonant, in the same way that Peggy came from Meggy.
- Thea — Cut from the back; a standing name of its own across Europe.
- Also Dora.
Opal
OH-pul
Two syllables with the stress at the front. The second syllable is reduced almost to nothing, which is why it is sometimes written with an e or an a in older records.
- Opie — The affectionate form, built from the front.
- Pal — The back of the name, which is also an ordinary English word.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Dorothy if you want…
- a name with more sound in itDorothy runs 3 syllables, Opal 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Dot, Dottie and Dolly
Choose Opal if you want…
- a name on the way upup 225 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesOpal is 2 syllables to Dorothy's 3
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
Dorothy
Strengths
- It has a form in every European language and is recognized across all of them.
- The meaning is short, warm and completely settled, which is rare.
- It carries an unusually large set of short forms, from the very plain Dot to the elegant Thea.
To consider
- One film has attached itself permanently, and a child will hear about the shoes.
- It is strongly generation-marked in America despite its recent return.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
Opal
Strengths
- It names a real thing with a real and interesting physical story behind it.
- Two syllables with front stress is the plainest and most durable shape English has.
- Nobody needs to be taught either the spelling or the pronunciation.
To consider
- It is coming back into use, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- The old superstition about opals being unlucky is still repeated by some people.
- It was recorded for sons as well in its earliest decades, though almost never now.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Dorothy
12%chance Dorothy feels dated by 2040
Dorothy 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.
Opal
30%chance Opal feels dated by 2040
Opal is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Dorothy and Opal 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 Dorothy and Opal?
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 Dorothy and Opal — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Dorothy or Opal — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Dorothy or Opal?
- Dorothy, in 2025: Dorothy ranked #421 with 743 babies; Opal ranked #423 with 740 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Dorothy or Opal?
- Opal. Over the last five years Dorothy moved up 114 places; Opal moved up 225 places.
- Which is the older name, Dorothy or Opal?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Dorothy and Opal?
- About 272,000 people named Dorothy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 15,000 people named Opal are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Dorothys or Opals in the classroom?
- Dorothy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Opal 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 Dorothy, Opal and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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