Head to head · Girls' names
Eleanor vs Violet
#12 vs #13 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Eleanor is a whisker ahead (#12 vs #13 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Eleanor leads 4 measures of 6; Violet 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, Violet #211 — Eleanor higher
- 1890s: Eleanor #104, Violet #146 — Eleanor higher
- 1900s: Eleanor #74, Violet #89 — Eleanor higher
- 1910s: Eleanor #34, Violet #83 — Eleanor higher
- 1920s: Eleanor #31, Violet #93 — Eleanor higher
- 1930s: Eleanor #48, Violet #156 — Eleanor higher
- 1940s: Eleanor #124, Violet #280 — Eleanor higher
- 1950s: Eleanor #253, Violet #439 — Eleanor higher
- 1960s: Eleanor #402, Violet #690 — Eleanor higher
- 1970s: Eleanor #609, Violet #1017 — Eleanor higher
- 1980s: Eleanor #660, Violet #1065 — Eleanor higher
- 1990s: Eleanor #518, Violet #1112 — Eleanor higher
- 2000s: Eleanor #293, Violet #435 — Eleanor higher
- 2010s: Eleanor #83, Violet #67 — Violet higher
- 2020s: Eleanor #16, Violet #23 — Eleanor higher
Eleanor stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Eleanor took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eleanor | Violet |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #123 | #211 |
| 1890s | #104 | #146 |
| 1900s | #74 | #89 |
| 1910s | #34 | #83 |
| 1920s | #31 | #93 |
| 1930s | #48 | #156 |
| 1940s | #124 | #280 |
| 1950s | #253 | #439 |
| 1960s | #402 | #690 |
| 1970s | #609 | #1017 |
| 1980s | #660 | #1065 |
| 1990s | #518 | #1112 |
| 2000s | #293 | #435 |
| 2010s | #83 | #67 |
| 2020s | #16 | #23 |
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
Violet
- Canada#17
- England & Wales#42
- Scotland#64
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.
Violet
The violet flower; also the color
From Latin viola, the flower, through Old French violette, a small violet.
Viola → violette → Violet
How it traveled
The Latin viola named the flower; Old French turned it into violette, the little violet, and English took it as Violet. Scots records carry it early and often, from the late medieval period onward, well before English parents took to naming daughters after blossoms.
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.
Violet
VY-uh-lit
Stress on the first syllable. Many speakers compress the middle vowel to two syllables, VY-lit, which is normal and unremarkable in English.
- Vi — The long-established short form, common among older generations and still used within families; occasionally recorded as a given name on its own.
- Vee — A phonetic version of the same short form, informal and mostly spoken rather than written.
- Lettie — Drawn from the -let ending; informal, and shared with Violetta and Charlotte.
- Vivi — Informal and modern, borrowed from the pattern used for Vivian and Viviana.
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
Violet
Violet Jessop (b. 1887) — Ocean-liner nurse who survived the sinkings of both the Titanic and the Britannic
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…
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 71% for Violet
Choose Violet if you want…
- a name on the way upup 24 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooViolet is on the national lists of Canada, England & Wales and Scotland
- a name that feels very nowViolet is climbing the charts fast
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.
Violet
Strengths
- A spelling everyone in the US already knows, because it is also an ordinary English word — rarely needs to be spelled out loud.
- Recognizable across French, Spanish, Italian, German and several Slavic languages through Violette, Violeta, Violetta and Viola.
- An unbroken record in English and Scots going back centuries, so it reads as inherited rather than newly coined.
To consider
- It is climbing quickly, so a Violet born now is far more likely to share her name in class than one born a generation ago. Worth knowing if you want something rarely doubled.
- Violet, Viola and Violeta are close enough that people who know one will sometimes reach for the wrong one, particularly in mixed-language families.
- It is occasionally misheard as Violent over a phone or a loudspeaker — a passing nuisance rather than a real problem, and one the written name never has.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Eleanor
12%chance Eleanor feels dated by 2040
Eleanor has held the top-100 across 6 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Violet
71%chance Violet feels dated by 2040
Violet is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
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 Eleanor and Violet 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 Violet?
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
- America's top 100 names right now
- Gorgeous — and about to be everywhere
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Generation Alpha names (born 2013 onward)
- all guides
Every list here names both Eleanor and Violet — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eleanor or Violet — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eleanor or Violet?
- Eleanor, in 2025: Eleanor ranked #12 with 7,649 babies; Violet ranked #13 with 7,546 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eleanor or Violet?
- Violet. Over the last five years Eleanor moved up 10 places; Violet moved up 24 places.
- Which is the older name, Eleanor or Violet?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Eleanor and Violet?
- About 147,000 people named Eleanor are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 107,000 people named Violet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Eleanors or Violets in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 8 classrooms will have a child named Eleanor. Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Violet.
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
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Eleanor, Violet and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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