Head to head · Girls' names
Elaine vs Joanna
#304 vs #306 in 2025
Elaine is a whisker ahead (#304 vs #306 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elaine is back after a long quiet spell, Joanna is stepping back from its peak.
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, Elaine leads 5 measures of 6; Joanna leads 0.
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: Elaine #987, Joanna #380 — Joanna higher
- 1890s: Elaine #616, Joanna #450 — Joanna higher
- 1900s: Elaine #397, Joanna #559 — Elaine higher
- 1910s: Elaine #203, Joanna #543 — Elaine higher
- 1920s: Elaine #81, Joanna #471 — Elaine higher
- 1930s: Elaine #56, Joanna #319 — Elaine higher
- 1940s: Elaine #48, Joanna #330 — Elaine higher
- 1950s: Elaine #82, Joanna #391 — Elaine higher
- 1960s: Elaine #151, Joanna #298 — Elaine higher
- 1970s: Elaine #269, Joanna #184 — Joanna higher
- 1980s: Elaine #340, Joanna #134 — Joanna higher
- 1990s: Elaine #467, Joanna #190 — Joanna higher
- 2000s: Elaine #667, Joanna #256 — Joanna higher
- 2010s: Elaine #667, Joanna #287 — Joanna higher
- 2020s: Elaine #420, Joanna #307 — Joanna higher
Joanna stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Joanna has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elaine | Joanna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #987 | #380 |
| 1890s | #616 | #450 |
| 1900s | #397 | #559 |
| 1910s | #203 | #543 |
| 1920s | #81 | #471 |
| 1930s | #56 | #319 |
| 1940s | #48 | #330 |
| 1950s | #82 | #391 |
| 1960s | #151 | #298 |
| 1970s | #269 | #184 |
| 1980s | #340 | #134 |
| 1990s | #467 | #190 |
| 2000s | #667 | #256 |
| 2010s | #667 | #287 |
| 2020s | #420 | #307 |
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
Elaine
Not established
It is the Old French form of Helen, whose own meaning is not recoverable: the torch and the moon readings offered for it are guesses attached later. A name that arrived through storytelling rather than through the liturgy carries no gloss of its own.
Helene → Elaine
Our story of Elaine — where the record runs out
The Champs-Élysées is the Elysian Fields. In Homer and Hesiod, Elysium is where a few favored people go instead of dying properly — a plain at the ends of the earth with an easy climate, reserved for heroes and relatives of the gods rather than for the virtuous, which is a quite different idea from a reward for good conduct.
Joanna
God is gracious
From the Hebrew name Yohanan, 'Yahweh is gracious', by way of the Greek feminine form Ioanna. It is the same root as John, Jane, Jean and Joan.
Yohanan → Ioanna → Iohanna → Johanna → Joanna
How it traveled
The root is the Hebrew Yohanan, which Greek-speaking writers rendered as Ioannes for men and Ioanna for women. Joanna appears in the Gospel of Luke as the wife of Chuza, listed among the women who traveled with and supported Jesus — which carried the name into Latin as Iohanna and out across Christian Europe.
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
Elaine
ee-LAYN
Two syllables with the stress at the back. Some families say uh-LAYN with a reduced first vowel, and both are heard without anybody noticing.
- Lainie — The back of the name with an affectionate ending, used well into adulthood.
- Ellie — The front of the name with an affectionate ending, and a standing name of its own.
Joanna
jo-AN-uh
Stress on the middle syllable in English. In Polish, where the same spelling is common, it is said yo-AH-na.
- Jo — The most common short form, informal, and long established as a given name in its own right.
- Jojo — Informal and mostly used within families and among children.
- Annie — Taken from the second half of the name; informal, and also a standalone given name.
- Anna — Used as a short form in some families and widely as a full name elsewhere.
- Also Joey.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elaine if you want…
- a name on the way upup 215 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesElaine is 2 syllables to Joanna's 3
Choose Joanna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJoanna is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJoanna runs 3 syllables, Elaine 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Jo, Jojo and Annie
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
Elaine
Strengths
- It is instantly recognizable without being common in any recent decade.
- Back stress gives a two-syllable name a firm landing.
- The spelling is stable and rarely needs correcting.
To consider
- Elayne, Elane and Alaine are all recorded and will be written for it.
- It has no agreed meaning, and the ones offered are guesses.
- The record holds this spelling for sons as well, though almost never.
Joanna
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, with the stress falling where readers expect it.
- Has recognizable counterparts in most European languages — Giovanna, Juana, Jeanne, Johanna — so it travels without translation.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation: Jo, Jojo, Annie, Anna, each usable without explanation.
To consider
- Joanna, Joanne, Johanna and Joan are four different names that sound close and get swapped constantly. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections, especially over the phone and in writing.
- The name is strongly represented among adults today, so many people will meet a grown Joanna before they meet a small one. That is shifting as it settles into the classic range.
- Jo is shared with Josephine, Joanne and Joan, so the nickname alone will not always identify her.
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 Elaine and Joanna 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 Elaine and Joanna?
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 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 Elaine and Joanna — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elaine or Joanna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elaine or Joanna?
- Elaine, in 2025: Elaine ranked #304 with 1,007 babies; Joanna ranked #306 with 997 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elaine or Joanna?
- Elaine. Over the last five years Elaine moved up 215 places; Joanna moved down 50 places.
- Which is the older name, Elaine or Joanna?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Elaine and Joanna?
- About 155,000 people named Elaine are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 99,000 people named Joanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elaines or Joannas in the classroom?
- Elaine will almost certainly be the only one in school. Joanna 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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