Head to head · Girls' names
Eleanor vs Evelyn
#12 vs #8 in 2025
Evelyn is a whisker ahead (#8 vs #12 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Evelyn is holding its place on the charts, Eleanor is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Eleanor has the edge.
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, Evelyn leads 4 measures of 6; Eleanor 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: Eleanor #123, Evelyn #134 — Eleanor higher
- 1890s: Eleanor #104, Evelyn #94 — Evelyn higher
- 1900s: Eleanor #74, Evelyn #43 — Evelyn higher
- 1910s: Eleanor #34, Evelyn #12 — Evelyn higher
- 1920s: Eleanor #31, Evelyn #14 — Evelyn higher
- 1930s: Eleanor #48, Evelyn #30 — Evelyn higher
- 1940s: Eleanor #124, Evelyn #61 — Evelyn higher
- 1950s: Eleanor #253, Evelyn #109 — Evelyn higher
- 1960s: Eleanor #402, Evelyn #170 — Evelyn higher
- 1970s: Eleanor #609, Evelyn #264 — Evelyn higher
- 1980s: Eleanor #660, Evelyn #238 — Evelyn higher
- 1990s: Eleanor #518, Evelyn #197 — Evelyn higher
- 2000s: Eleanor #293, Evelyn #83 — Evelyn higher
- 2010s: Eleanor #83, Evelyn #18 — Evelyn higher
- 2020s: Eleanor #16, Evelyn #9 — Evelyn higher
Evelyn stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Evelyn has held the lead since the 1890s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eleanor | Evelyn |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #123 | #134 |
| 1890s | #104 | #94 |
| 1900s | #74 | #43 |
| 1910s | #34 | #12 |
| 1920s | #31 | #14 |
| 1930s | #48 | #30 |
| 1940s | #124 | #61 |
| 1950s | #253 | #109 |
| 1960s | #402 | #170 |
| 1970s | #609 | #264 |
| 1980s | #660 | #238 |
| 1990s | #518 | #197 |
| 2000s | #293 | #83 |
| 2010s | #83 | #18 |
| 2020s | #16 | #9 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Eleanor
- Canada#31
- England & Wales#67
Evelyn
- Canada#15
- England & Wales#20
- Scotland#86
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Eleanor
Not established
Eleanor comes from Provencal Alienor and its origin has never been established. The reading light, from a Greek word, does not work phonetically and is a later attachment. A derivation from an older Germanic name has been proposed and not demonstrated. One of the most used names in Europe has no known meaning.
Alienor → Eleanor
How it traveled
The name came to England with a specific woman. Eleanor of Aquitaine inherited the largest duchy in France at fifteen, married the king of France, went on crusade with him, had the marriage annulled, married the man who became king of England eight weeks later, and had eight children including two kings.
Evelyn
Not established
The trail is clear until its very last step, and then it stops. Evelyn comes from the English surname Evelyn, which comes from the medieval feminine name Aveline, a Norman French pet form of the Germanic name Ava. What the Germanic element avi- actually meant is not established. Later readers have tied Evelyn to Latin avis, 'bird', or to Eve, 'life', by sound rather than descent; neither is the real line.
Ava → Aveline → Evelyn (English surname) → Evelyn
How it traveled
The Normans brought Aveline to England in the eleventh century, where it stayed in use through the Middle Ages and then hardened into a family surname. Surnames were fashionable as first names among English gentry from the seventeenth century onward, and Evelyn came back into circulation that way — used for sons as well as daughters in Britain, since a surname carries no gender of its own.
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
Eleanor
EL-uh-nor
Three syllables, stress on the first, with the middle reduced almost to nothing. British speakers often give it three full syllables. Spanish Leonor has two and puts the weight at the end.
- Nell — An old English pet form, made by mishearing mine Ell as my Nell; a full name of its own.
- Nora — The back half; a settled name in its own right across Europe.
- Ellie — The commonest modern clip; shared with Ella, Elizabeth and Eleanora.
- Leni — The German clip of the same name, given alone there.
Evelyn
EV-uh-lin
EV-uh-lin is standard in the United States. In Britain you will also hear EEV-lin, in two syllables, especially from older speakers and in the surname. Both are correct for the same spelling, so it is worth deciding which one your family uses.
- Evie — The most widely used short form, informal, and a given name in its own right in Britain and Ireland.
- Eve — Informal short form; also stands alone as an independent name with its own long history.
- Ev — Clipped and informal, more often heard among older bearers.
- Lynn — Taken from the ending rather than the start; also a standalone given name, common in mid-century American records.
- Also Evy.
Who has carried each name
Eleanor
Eleanor Roosevelt (b. 1884) — Longest-serving First Lady, drove the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
Eleanor of Aquitaine (b. 1124) — Medieval queen of both France and England
Eleanor H. Porter (b. 1868) — Wrote Pollyanna
Evelyn
Evelyn Beatrice Hall (b. 1868) — Coined "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Evelyn Glennie (b. 1965) — Grammy-winning percussionist who has been profoundly deaf since age 12
Evelyn Ashford (b. 1957) — Sprinter with four Olympic gold medals
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 Eleanor if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Eleanor from Evelyn.
Choose Evelyn if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooEvelyn is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
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
Eleanor
Strengths
- Four short forms of genuinely different registers, three of which are full names elsewhere.
- Recognized without translation in French, Spanish, Italian, German and Polish.
- Documented continuous use for nine hundred years, with named bearers in every century.
To consider
- It has no established meaning, which matters if the meaning is why you chose it.
- Elinor, Eleanore and Elanor are all in use, so the spelling will occasionally be given.
- It is climbing hard at the moment, so an Eleanor will not be the only one for long.
Evelyn
Strengths
- Short forms already in real use — Evie, Eve, Lynn — so a child has options without anyone inventing them.
- A spelling most English speakers write correctly on the first try, despite the unstressed middle syllable.
- Recorded continuously since national birth statistics began, and current in classrooms now: familiar to every generation alive.
To consider
- It is one of the most-used girls' names in the English-speaking world right now, so a shared name in the same class or friend group is a real possibility.
- Two pronunciations circulate — EV-uh-lin and EEV-lin — and the second is common enough in Britain that she may occasionally be asked which she prefers.
- Evelyn sits close to Evie, Eve, Ava, Eva and Evelina in sound, several of which are also popular; expect the odd mix-up.
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 Eleanor and Evelyn 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 Eleanor and Evelyn?
Put both to the vote.
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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
- America's top 100 names right now
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Greatest Generation names (born 1901–1927)
- all guides
Every list here names both Eleanor and Evelyn — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eleanor or Evelyn — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eleanor or Evelyn?
- Evelyn, in 2025: Evelyn ranked #8 with 9,123 babies; Eleanor ranked #12 with 7,649 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eleanor or Evelyn?
- Eleanor. Over the last five years Eleanor moved up 10 places; Evelyn moved up 1 place.
- Which is the older name, Eleanor or Evelyn?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Eleanor and Evelyn?
- About 147,000 people named Eleanor are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 321,000 people named Evelyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Eleanors or Evelyns in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Eleanor. Roughly 1 in 7 classrooms will have a child named Evelyn.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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