Head to head · Girls' names
Elizabeth vs Harper
#17 vs #16 in 2025
Harper is a whisker ahead (#16 vs #17 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Harper is stepping back from its peak, Elizabeth is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Elizabeth has the edge.
Cast your vote1 vote
Which one would you pick?
1 parent has voted — the split shows after you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Elizabeth leads 3 measures of 6; Harper 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: Elizabeth #4, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1890s: Elizabeth #5, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1900s: Elizabeth #6, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1910s: Elizabeth #8, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1920s: Elizabeth #11, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1930s: Elizabeth #17, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1940s: Elizabeth #24, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1950s: Elizabeth #22, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1960s: Elizabeth #17, Harper — — Elizabeth higher
- 1970s: Elizabeth #15, Harper #7155 — Elizabeth higher
- 1980s: Elizabeth #10, Harper #8013 — Elizabeth higher
- 1990s: Elizabeth #9, Harper #3266 — Elizabeth higher
- 2000s: Elizabeth #10, Harper #791 — Elizabeth higher
- 2010s: Elizabeth #12, Harper #28 — Elizabeth higher
- 2020s: Elizabeth #16, Harper #12 — Harper higher
Elizabeth stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Harper took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elizabeth | Harper |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #4 | — |
| 1890s | #5 | — |
| 1900s | #6 | — |
| 1910s | #8 | — |
| 1920s | #11 | — |
| 1930s | #17 | — |
| 1940s | #24 | — |
| 1950s | #22 | — |
| 1960s | #17 | — |
| 1970s | #15 | #7155 |
| 1980s | #10 | #8013 |
| 1990s | #9 | #3266 |
| 2000s | #10 | #791 |
| 2010s | #12 | #28 |
| 2020s | #16 | #12 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elizabeth
- Canada#23
- England & Wales#62
Harper
- England & Wales#22
- Scotland#23
- Canada#35
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Elizabeth
my God is an oath
Hebrew Elisheva: el, God, with sheva. Because the word means both an oath and seven, the name is read as my God is an oath and, less often, as my God is abundance. The Beersheba story shows the ambiguity working in the text itself rather than only in the dictionary.
Elisheva → Elisabet → Elizabeth
How it traveled
Elisheva is Aaron's wife in Exodus, named in a single verse. The name reappears in Luke as the mother of John the Baptist, an old woman told she will have a child, and the scene where Mary visits her is one of the few in the Gospels where two women talk to each other.
Harper
Harp player
From Old English hearpere, 'one who plays the harp' — an occupational surname, like Baker or Miller, formed from the name of the trade.
hearpe (Old English 'harp') → hearpere ('harp player') → le Harpere (medieval surname) → Harper (surname) → Harper (given name)
How it traveled
The word behind it is Old English hearpe, 'harp', and hearpere, the man who played one. Harpers were kept by noble and royal households in medieval England and Scotland, and by the later Middle Ages the occupation had become a hereditary surname, recorded in forms such as le Harpere.
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
Elizabeth
ih-LIZ-uh-beth
Four syllables, stress on the second. The th at the end is a sound most of the world's languages do not have, which is why every other European version of the name changed it.
- Liz — The commonest American clip; plain, adult and used at work.
- Beth — The quieter option, and a full name in its own right.
- Libby — From a small child's attempt at the whole word; now given alone as well.
- Eliza — A full name of its own since the seventeenth century.
- Also Betty, Elsie.
Harper
HAR-per
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly as the English surname. In non-rhotic accents such as much of England, both r sounds soften, giving something closer to HAH-puh.
- Harp — The main informal shortening, used within families rather than as a name on its own.
- Harps — Casual, playground- and teammate-style; not used formally.
- Harper — In practice most bearers go by the full name — it is short enough to survive intact in daily use.
Who has carried each name
Elizabeth
Elizabeth II (b. 1926) — Britain's longest-reigning monarch — 70 years on the throne
Elizabeth I of England (b. 1533) — Queen of England's Golden Age, the era of Shakespeare
Elizabeth Taylor (b. 1932) — Violet-eyed Hollywood legend with two Oscars — and Cleopatra
Harper
Harper Lee (b. 1926) — Wrote To Kill a Mockingbird, one of America's most beloved novels
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 Elizabeth if you want…
- a name with more sound in itElizabeth runs 4 syllables, Harper 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Liz, Beth and Libby
- a long American recordElizabeth was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 83% for Harper
Choose Harper if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesHarper is 2 syllables to Elizabeth's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooHarper is on the national lists of England & Wales, Scotland and Canada
- a newer arrivalHarper entered the US charts in 1971
- a name that feels very nowHarper is stepping back from its peak
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
Elizabeth
Strengths
- More short forms than any other name in English, at every possible register.
- Recognized in every European language, usually without translation.
- A documented Hebrew meaning and continuous use for more than two thousand years.
To consider
- It is one of the most given names in the English-speaking world and always has been.
- The short forms are so numerous that a child may end up called several things at once.
- It is nine letters and four syllables on every form she will ever fill in.
Harper
Strengths
- A spelling nearly everyone already knows from the surname, so it rarely needs to be repeated or corrected.
- A documented meaning that is not in dispute: the harp player, from Old English.
- Established in the United States, Canada, England and Wales, and Scotland alike, so it travels well in English-speaking countries.
To consider
- Its wave is very recent, so nearly all Harpers are children. Adult bearers are few, which some parents like and others find untested.
- It is also given to boys, through the same surname, though US records are now overwhelmingly female — a boy named Harper will often be assumed to be a girl on paper.
- It resists shortening. Beyond Harp, there is no traditional nickname, so what you name is what will be used.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Elizabeth
12%chance Elizabeth feels dated by 2040
Elizabeth has held the top-100 across 15 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Harper
83%chance Harper feels dated by 2040
Harper is coming down from a big peak (#9 in 2018). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Elizabeth and Harper 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
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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 Elizabeth and Harper — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elizabeth or Harper — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elizabeth or Harper?
- Harper, in 2025: Harper ranked #16 with 6,792 babies; Elizabeth ranked #17 with 6,760 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elizabeth or Harper?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Elizabeth moved down 1 place; Harper moved down 6 places.
- Which is the older name, Elizabeth or Harper?
- Elizabeth was already in use when US records began in 1880; Harper entered the US charts in 1971. On the American record, Elizabeth is the older name.
- How many people are named Elizabeth and Harper?
- About 1,160,000 people named Elizabeth are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 138,000 people named Harper are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elizabeths or Harpers in the classroom?
- Roughly 1 in 10 classrooms will have a child named Elizabeth. Roughly 1 in 9 classrooms will have a child named Harper.
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
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