Head to head · Girls' names
Elaina vs Selena
#267 vs #268 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Elaina is a whisker ahead (#267 vs #268 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, Selena leads 3 measures of 6; Elaina 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
- 1880s: Elaina —, Selena #717 — Selena higher
- 1890s: Elaina —, Selena #825 — Selena higher
- 1900s: Elaina —, Selena #878 — Selena higher
- 1910s: Elaina —, Selena #1083 — Selena higher
- 1920s: Elaina —, Selena #1183 — Selena higher
- 1930s: Elaina —, Selena #1300 — Selena higher
- 1940s: Elaina #2015, Selena #1278 — Selena higher
- 1950s: Elaina #1812, Selena #1108 — Selena higher
- 1960s: Elaina #1120, Selena #626 — Selena higher
- 1970s: Elaina #1132, Selena #437 — Selena higher
- 1980s: Elaina #831, Selena #604 — Selena higher
- 1990s: Elaina #690, Selena #344 — Selena higher
- 2000s: Elaina #470, Selena #269 — Selena higher
- 2010s: Elaina #308, Selena #297 — Selena higher
- 2020s: Elaina #259, Selena #238 — Selena higher
Selena stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elaina | Selena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #717 |
| 1890s | — | #825 |
| 1900s | — | #878 |
| 1910s | — | #1083 |
| 1920s | — | #1183 |
| 1930s | — | #1300 |
| 1940s | #2015 | #1278 |
| 1950s | #1812 | #1108 |
| 1960s | #1120 | #626 |
| 1970s | #1132 | #437 |
| 1980s | #831 | #604 |
| 1990s | #690 | #344 |
| 2000s | #470 | #269 |
| 2010s | #308 | #297 |
| 2020s | #259 | #238 |
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
Elaina
linked to the Greek name Helen, usually glossed 'torch' or 'bright'
Elaina reaches back to Helen (Greek Helenē), and Helen's own meaning has never been settled. The two long-standing readings connect it to helenē, a torch, and to hēlios, the sun — hence the familiar glosses 'shining' and 'light'. Both are proposals rather than proven etymologies; the name is likely older than the Greek words offered to explain it.
Helenē → Helena → Elaine → Elena → Elaina
How it traveled
The root name is Helen, borne in Greek epic and then throughout the Latin world as Helena. Old French turned it into Elaine, which is how it entered English — most memorably in Arthurian romance, where Malory's fifteenth-century Le Morte d'Arthur gives us Elaine of Astolat, and Tennyson retold her story in the Idylls of the King in the nineteenth century.
Selena
moon
From Greek selēnē, 'moon', the name of the moon goddess Selene; Selena is the Latinized spelling of that name.
Selēnē (Greek) → Selena (Latin) → Selina → Selena
How it traveled
The oldest layer is Greek: Selene, goddess of the moon, sister of the sun god Helios in the old mythology and the subject of one of the Homeric Hymns. Latin writers wrote her name as Selena, and that Latin spelling is the one that traveled into modern European languages.
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
Elaina
uh-LAY-nuh
The stress sits on the middle syllable. Some families say eh-LAY-nuh, and a few use uh-LEE-nuh, treating the spelling as a version of Elena. Any of the three is defensible, so it helps to settle on one early and say it the same way every time.
- Lainey — The most common informal short form in American use; also given as a standalone name.
- Ellie — Informal, shared with Eleanor and Ella, and widely used as a full given name in its own right.
- Laney — Spelling variant of Lainey, informal, used in speech and among family.
- Elle — A one-syllable trim, informal, and a standalone given name as well.
- Also Lain, Nina.
Selena
suh-LEE-nuh
English speakers almost always say suh-LEE-nuh. In Spanish the same spelling is seh-LEH-nah, with a clearer first vowel and a shorter stressed one; bilingual families often use both without difficulty.
- Lena — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right across Europe.
- Sel — Informal, clipped from the first syllable; spoken far more often than written.
- Sena — Informal short form drawn from the last two syllables; also used independently in some cultures.
- Leni — Informal, formed from Lena; more common where German or Dutch is spoken.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elaina if you want…
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Lainey, Ellie and Laney
- a newer arrivalElaina entered the US charts in 1941
Choose Selena if you want…
- a long American recordSelena was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Elaina
Strengths
- The spelling signals its own pronunciation better than Elaine or Elena do, which cuts down on guesswork when strangers read it aloud.
- Belongs to the Helen family, so relatives abroad have a familiar form ready — Elena, Helena, Yelena, Ilona.
- A deep bench of established short forms: Lainey, Ellie, Laney, Elle — none of them invented for the occasion.
To consider
- It lives in a thicket of near-identical spellings — Elena, Alaina, Elayna, Elaine, Alayna. Expect to spell it out on the phone for life, and expect a share of mail addressed to one of the neighbors.
- Because Elena is pronounced eh-LEH-nuh or eh-LAY-nuh depending on the language, some readers will hesitate before the first syllable even with this spelling.
- It is far more likely to be the only one in a classroom than to be one of several — good if you want that, worth knowing if you were hoping for a name other children already recognize.
Selena
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and easy to state: moon, straight from the Greek goddess Selene.
- Reads and pronounces cleanly in both English and Spanish, with no respelling needed to cross between them.
- Comes with Lena already attached — a short form that is itself a full name with centuries of use.
To consider
- Selina, Celina and Salina all exist as separate names, so expect to spell it aloud fairly often — and to see it written back the wrong way in email.
- For many people the name is closely tied to a celebrated Tejano singer, and to a well-known American pop performer. That association is affectionate, but it arrives before the child does.
- The English and Spanish pronunciations differ in their vowels. In a bilingual setting that is simply flexibility; in a monolingual one it can mean gently correcting people.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Elaina
40%chance Elaina feels dated by 2040
Elaina 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.
Selena
25%chance Selena feels dated by 2040
Selena peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Elaina and Selena 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 Elaina and Selena?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Elaina and Selena — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elaina or Selena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elaina or Selena?
- Elaina, in 2025: Elaina ranked #267 with 1,176 babies; Selena ranked #268 with 1,170 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elaina or Selena?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Elaina moved down 17 places; Selena moved down 26 places.
- Which is the older name, Elaina or Selena?
- Elaina entered the US charts in 1941; Selena was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Selena is the older name.
- How many people are named Elaina and Selena?
- About 31,500 people named Elaina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 57,000 people named Selena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elainas or Selenas in the classroom?
- Elaina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Selena 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 Elaina, Selena 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