Head to head · Girls' names
Elle vs Xiomara
#461 vs #463 in 2025
Elle is a whisker ahead (#461 vs #463 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elle is stepping back from its peak, Xiomara is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Xiomara 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, Elle leads 4 measures of 6; Xiomara 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
- 1950s: Elle —, Xiomara #4300 — Xiomara higher
- 1960s: Elle —, Xiomara #3433 — Xiomara higher
- 1970s: Elle #8300, Xiomara #2279 — Xiomara higher
- 1980s: Elle #5853, Xiomara #1444 — Xiomara higher
- 1990s: Elle #1373, Xiomara #1184 — Xiomara higher
- 2000s: Elle #626, Xiomara #949 — Elle higher
- 2010s: Elle #393, Xiomara #1021 — Elle higher
- 2020s: Elle #417, Xiomara #492 — Elle higher
Xiomara stood higher in 5 of 8 decades; Elle has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elle | Xiomara |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | — | #4300 |
| 1960s | — | #3433 |
| 1970s | #8300 | #2279 |
| 1980s | #5853 | #1444 |
| 1990s | #1373 | #1184 |
| 2000s | #626 | #949 |
| 2010s | #393 | #1021 |
| 2020s | #417 | #492 |
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
Elle
"She" in French; also a short form of Ell- and -elle names
Two readings compete, and both are real. Read as French, elle is simply the pronoun "she". Read as a short form, the meaning belongs to the longer name behind it: Eleanor, Ellen (through Greek Helenē), Elizabeth (Hebrew, "my God is an oath"), or one of the -elle names like Gabrielle and Michelle, where -elle is the French feminine diminutive ending.
Helenē → Helen → Ellen → Elle
How it traveled
The sound comes into English along two roads that meet at the same three letters. One runs through the Ell- names — Ellen, from Greek Helenē by way of medieval French and English, and Eleanor and Elizabeth alongside it — all of which have been clipped to Ell and Elle in family use for centuries.
Xiomara
most often given as "famous in battle"
The standard account traces Xiomara to the Iberian name Guiomar, itself from Germanic elements usually read as wig "battle" and mari "famous" — hence the familiar gloss "famous in battle" or "ready for battle." Other reference works decline to commit and simply record it as a Spanish name of uncertain origin. Neither reading has fully displaced the other.
Wigmar → Guiomar → Xiomara
How it traveled
The trail begins with Guiomar, a name carried in medieval Iberian literature and long used in both Spain and Portugal. In Spanish-speaking America the form Xiomara took hold and became a name in its own right, widely given in the Caribbean and Central America, and there the X follows the Spanish habit of sounding like an s.
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
Elle
EL
One syllable, rhyming with bell. Identical in sound to the letter L and to French elle. Some readers guess EL-ee on first sight, expecting Ellie, and correct themselves once they hear it.
- Ellie — The usual affectionate stretch of a name already short; stands alone as a given name too.
- El — Informal, mostly within a family or among close friends.
- Ella — Used interchangeably by some families; also a fully established given name in its own right.
Xiomara
see-oh-MAH-rah
That is the Spanish reading, with X sounded as a soft s. In English-speaking settings you will also hear zee-oh-MAH-rah and, less often, shoh-MAH-rah. Deciding which version your family uses — and saying it first when introducing her — settles most of the question.
- Xio — The most common short form in Spanish-speaking families, said "see-oh"; informal, rarely used on paper.
- Xiomy — Affectionate diminutive, also spelled Xiomi; used mostly by family and close friends.
- Mara — Draws on the end of the name rather than the start, and stands on its own as a given name in Spanish, Italian and Romanian.
- Xio-Xio — Doubled nursery form heard within families; not used outside them.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elle if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsElle is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesElle is 1 syllable to Xiomara's 4
Choose Xiomara if you want…
- a name on the way upup 146 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itXiomara runs 4 syllables, Elle 1
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
Elle
Strengths
- One syllable, four letters, no silent traps — most people spell it right the first time they hear it said.
- Works as the everyday short form of Eleanor, Ellen, Elizabeth, Gabrielle, Danielle or Michelle, if you ever want a longer name on the certificate.
- Recognizable in French and English alike, and readable at sight across most European languages.
To consider
- It is a homophone of the letter L, which invites the occasional "Elle with an E?" and stray spellings like El, Ell or plain L over the phone.
- Because the sound has served as a nickname for so long, some people will assume Elle is short for something and ask what the full name is.
- At one syllable it can get lost beside a very short surname, and it disappears easily when called across a noisy playground. Read the whole name aloud a few times before deciding.
Xiomara
Strengths
- Real, established short forms already in use: Xio, Xiomy and Mara, so there is no need to invent one.
- A documented line back to the Iberian name Guiomar, which is still given in Spain and Portugal — a long record behind an uncommon spelling.
- Works across Spanish and English without changing its spelling, and needs no accent marks.
To consider
- The X at the front is the sticking point. English speakers who have not met the name will guess at it, and she may spend a lifetime offering a short correction — a real cost, though a small and repeatable one.
- Expect spelling questions too, especially over the phone: Xiomara, Ziomara and Xiomarah all exist.
- The meaning is not fully settled. If you want a name with one agreed translation, this is not it — though the competing readings are both old and both interesting.
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 Elle and Xiomara 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 Elle and Xiomara?
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 these names appear on
- Palindrome names: the same in the mirror
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Soft-sounding names built on liquid letters
- Names with nowhere to shorten
- all guides
Where Elle and Xiomara each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elle or Xiomara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elle or Xiomara?
- Elle, in 2025: Elle ranked #461 with 668 babies; Xiomara ranked #463 with 665 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elle or Xiomara?
- Xiomara. Over the last five years Elle moved down 91 places; Xiomara moved up 146 places.
- Which is the older name, Elle or Xiomara?
- Elle entered the US charts in 1977; Xiomara entered the US charts in 1954. On the American record, Xiomara is the older name.
- How many people are named Elle and Xiomara?
- About 19,000 people named Elle are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,000 people named Xiomara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elles or Xiomaras in the classroom?
- Elle will almost certainly be the only one in school. Xiomara 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
Keep playing
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