Head to head · Girls' names
Eliza vs Esther
#115 vs #119 in 2025
Eliza is a whisker ahead (#115 vs #119 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Eliza is holding its place on the charts, Esther is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Esther 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, Esther leads 3 measures of 6; Eliza 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: Eliza #102, Esther #91 — Esther higher
- 1890s: Eliza #155, Esther #43 — Esther higher
- 1900s: Eliza #203, Esther #35 — Esther higher
- 1910s: Eliza #291, Esther #35 — Esther higher
- 1920s: Eliza #377, Esther #54 — Esther higher
- 1930s: Eliza #493, Esther #97 — Esther higher
- 1940s: Eliza #660, Esther #150 — Esther higher
- 1950s: Eliza #957, Esther #198 — Esther higher
- 1960s: Eliza #1068, Esther #281 — Esther higher
- 1970s: Eliza #831, Esther #324 — Esther higher
- 1980s: Eliza #659, Esther #280 — Esther higher
- 1990s: Eliza #527, Esther #302 — Esther higher
- 2000s: Eliza #333, Esther #285 — Esther higher
- 2010s: Eliza #187, Esther #202 — Eliza higher
- 2020s: Eliza #116, Esther #138 — Eliza higher
Esther stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Eliza has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Eliza | Esther |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #102 | #91 |
| 1890s | #155 | #43 |
| 1900s | #203 | #35 |
| 1910s | #291 | #35 |
| 1920s | #377 | #54 |
| 1930s | #493 | #97 |
| 1940s | #660 | #150 |
| 1950s | #957 | #198 |
| 1960s | #1068 | #281 |
| 1970s | #831 | #324 |
| 1980s | #659 | #280 |
| 1990s | #527 | #302 |
| 2000s | #333 | #285 |
| 2010s | #187 | #202 |
| 2020s | #116 | #138 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Eliza
- England & Wales#63
Esther
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Eliza
my God is an oath — Eliza is a short form of Elizabeth
The root is Hebrew Elisheva. A second reading of the same elements gives "God is abundance", from the sense of fullness or satisfaction; the oath reading is the one usually given.
Elisheva → Elisabet → Elizabeth → Eliza
How it traveled
Elisheva belongs to the Hebrew Bible, where she is the wife of Aaron; the Greek translators rendered her name Elisabet, and through Latin it reached medieval Europe as Elizabeth. English speakers began clipping it early and often, and Eliza was one of the clippings that stuck, standing alone on parish records from the seventeenth century onward and flourishing in the eighteenth and nineteenth.
Esther
Not established
The name may be Persian, from a word for a star, and it may be Babylonian, from the goddess Ishtar; the woman in the book also has a Hebrew name, Hadassah, which means a myrtle. Both explanations have been in circulation for two thousand years and neither can be settled. A name with two candidate origins in two dead languages is in about as difficult a position as etymology gets.
a name that may be Persian or Babylonian → the book of Esther written without a mention of God → Greek editors add prayers to make it acceptable → the Hebrew text is kept as it stands → an American peak at the end of the nineteenth century and a revival now
How it traveled
The argument about the book went on for centuries. It is set entirely in a foreign court, its heroine marries a gentile king, it contains no religious observance of any kind, and the only fragment of Hebrew scripture found at Qumran that is missing is this one.
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
Eliza
ee-LY-zuh
Stress on the middle syllable, which rhymes with "eye". In Polish and Hungarian the same spelling is said eh-LEE-zah, so a family with roots in either may use that reading.
- Liza — The oldest and most common short form; also used as a full given name on its own.
- Lizzie — Informal and long-established, shared with Elizabeth; used as a standalone name too.
- Ellie — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; widely independent as a given name among younger generations.
- Liz — Brisk and informal, more often reached for in adulthood than childhood.
- Also Elle.
Esther
ESS-tur
Two syllables, stress at the front. The th is said as a plain t in Hebrew and in most European languages, and English is the outlier in sounding it.
- Essie — The warm nineteenth-century short form, currently being rediscovered.
- Ettie — Built from the ending; a complete name of the same period.
Who has carried each name
Eliza
Eliza Dushku (b. 1980) — Buffy's Faith
Eliza Acton (b. 1799) — Poet who wrote the first modern cookbook
Esther
Esther Duflo (b. 1972) — Nobel-winning economist who studies how to fight poverty
Esther Williams (b. 1921) — Swimming champion turned Hollywood's "Million Dollar Mermaid"
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 Eliza if you want…
- a name holding steadyEliza is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itEliza runs 3 syllables, Esther 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Liza, Lizzie and Ellie
- a name that charts abroad tooEliza is on the national lists of England & Wales
Choose Esther if you want…
- a name on the way upup 29 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesEsther is 2 syllables to Eliza'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
Eliza
Strengths
- A spelling nearly everyone can write down on first hearing, with no silent letters and no variant to correct.
- Several long-established short forms — Liza, Lizzie, Ellie, Liz — so there is room to grow without changing names.
- In continuous use in English for some four centuries, which puts it outside the reach of any single fashion.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded family — Elisa, Elise, Eloise, Elsie and Elizabeth all live nearby, and Eliza gets misheard as one of them often enough to be worth expecting.
- Because it started as a short form, some people will assume the full name is Elizabeth and ask, or quietly write it that way on forms.
- ELIZA was also the name of an early MIT chatbot, a piece of trivia that surfaces occasionally in tech conversation and nowhere else.
Esther
Strengths
- It is short, established and used without alteration across most of Europe.
- Essie is available and is thoroughly current again.
- It is one of the few biblical women's names with a whole book to itself.
To consider
- There is no settled meaning and two candidate languages.
- It is rising quickly, so it will be commoner among her contemporaries than in the record.
- It reads as a great-grandmother's name to anybody who has not noticed the revival.
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 Eliza and Esther 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 Eliza and Esther?
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
- Vowel names: soft starts from A to O
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- The sweet spot: familiar but not everywhere
- all guides
Every list here names both Eliza and Esther — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Eliza or Esther — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Eliza or Esther?
- Eliza, in 2025: Eliza ranked #115 with 2,370 babies; Esther ranked #119 with 2,277 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Eliza or Esther?
- Esther. Over the last five years Eliza is holding its place on the charts; Esther moved up 29 places.
- Which is the older name, Eliza or Esther?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Eliza and Esther?
- About 53,500 people named Eliza are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 106,000 people named Esther are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elizas or Esthers in the classroom?
- Eliza will almost certainly be the only one in school. Esther will almost certainly be the only one in school.
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 Eliza, Esther and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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