Head to head · Girls' names
Elodie vs Tessa
#310 vs #311 in 2025
Elodie is a whisker ahead (#310 vs #311 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Elodie is climbing the charts fast, Tessa is holding its place on the charts.
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, Elodie leads 4 measures of 6; Tessa 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: Elodie #874, Tessa — — Elodie higher
- 1890s: Elodie #1230, Tessa #1310 — Elodie higher
- 1900s: Elodie #1606, Tessa #1905 — Elodie higher
- 1910s: Elodie #2137, Tessa #3558 — Elodie higher
- 1920s: Elodie #2871, Tessa #4376 — Elodie higher
- 1930s: Elodie #2999, Tessa #4049 — Elodie higher
- 1940s: Elodie #3931, Tessa #1919 — Tessa higher
- 1950s: Elodie #5042, Tessa #2951 — Tessa higher
- 1960s: Elodie #6406, Tessa #1364 — Tessa higher
- 1970s: Elodie #8374, Tessa #594 — Tessa higher
- 1980s: Elodie #9889, Tessa #377 — Tessa higher
- 1990s: Elodie #9343, Tessa #240 — Tessa higher
- 2000s: Elodie #4306, Tessa #254 — Tessa higher
- 2010s: Elodie #1350, Tessa #234 — Tessa higher
- 2020s: Elodie #591, Tessa #306 — Tessa higher
Tessa stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Tessa has held the lead since the 1940s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elodie | Tessa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #874 | — |
| 1890s | #1230 | #1310 |
| 1900s | #1606 | #1905 |
| 1910s | #2137 | #3558 |
| 1920s | #2871 | #4376 |
| 1930s | #2999 | #4049 |
| 1940s | #3931 | #1919 |
| 1950s | #5042 | #2951 |
| 1960s | #6406 | #1364 |
| 1970s | #8374 | #594 |
| 1980s | #9889 | #377 |
| 1990s | #9343 | #240 |
| 2000s | #4306 | #254 |
| 2010s | #1350 | #234 |
| 2020s | #591 | #306 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elodie
- England & Wales#55
Tessa
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
Elodie
most likely "foreign riches" or "other wealth"
The leading reading traces Alodia to Gothic or Visigothic roots — elements meaning "other" and "wealth, property," the same family that gave medieval law the word allod for land held outright. A second reading, often repeated, derives it from Greek helodes, "marshy," and is sometimes prettied up as "marsh flower." The Germanic account has the better claim; neither is fully closed.
Alodia → Alodie → Élodie → Elodie
How it traveled
The oldest form is Alodia, borne by one of two sisters, Nunilo and Alodia, executed in ninth-century Muslim Spain and venerated afterwards as saints in Aragon and Navarre — which is why the name survived at all in the Iberian church calendars. Medieval Latin Alodia softened into French Alodie and then Élodie, and there it sat quietly for centuries as a saint's-day name.
Tessa
Unsettled — through Teresa, read variously as 'summer', 'harvester', or a name from the Greek island Therasia
Tessa's meaning is Teresa's meaning, and Teresa's root has never been agreed on. The serious candidates are Greek theros, 'summer'; therizein, 'to harvest'; and the island name Therasia, borne by a fourth-century Roman woman, Therasia. Each has scholarly support and none has won. That leaves Tessa in good company — some of the oldest European names are exactly this open.
Therasia → Teresa → Theresa → Tess → Tessa
How it traveled
The line runs back through Teresa, a name that spread from the Iberian peninsula across Catholic Europe and became one of the great international names of the Church. English speakers clipped it to Tess, then extended that clip back out to Tessa, and by the nineteenth century Tessa was being recorded as a name given at birth rather than a household shortening.
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
Elodie
EL-uh-dee
The usual American reading stresses the first syllable. In French it is closer to ay-law-DEE, with the weight at the end. Both are correct for the name; it helps to pick one and say it first when you introduce her.
- Ellie — The most common English short form; also widely used as a standalone given name, so it is shared with Eleanor, Ella and Elizabeth.
- Elle — Informal one-syllable clip, also a given name in its own right.
- Lodie — Family-level nickname drawn from the back half of the name rather than the front.
- Elo — Used informally in French-speaking households.
- Also Dee, El.
Tessa
TESS-uh
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in English, and near-identical in Dutch and German.
- Tess — The most common short form, and a standard given name on its own in English-speaking countries.
- Tessie — Informal and affectionate; long-established, and still strongly associated with older generations.
- Tee — Casual, spoken rather than written; used within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elodie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 393 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itElodie runs 3 syllables, Tessa 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Ellie, Elle and Lodie
- a name that charts abroad tooElodie is on the national lists of England & Wales
Choose Tessa if you want…
- a name holding steadyTessa is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesTessa is 2 syllables to Elodie'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
Elodie
Strengths
- Ready-made short forms already in circulation — Ellie, Elle, Dee — so nothing has to be invented.
- A documented line back to a ninth-century Spanish saint's name, Alodia, with no gaps that need papering over.
- Works across languages: Élodie in French, Alodia in Spanish, Elodia in Italian, all recognizably the same name.
To consider
- It is very often heard as Melody the first time, and sometimes read that way on a page. Expect a gentle correction to become routine.
- Two stress patterns compete — EL-uh-dee and the French ay-law-DEE — so she will likely hear both, and may need to choose which one she answers to.
- The accent in Élodie is standard in French and optional in English. Whichever you register, the other version will show up on forms and mail.
Tessa
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, with no competing variant to correct — people write it correctly on the first try.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Tess, that is itself a full name in English.
- In use in American records since the nineteenth century, with no long gap and no sudden fashion spike.
To consider
- It is already brief, so nickname options are narrow: Tess, Tessie, and not much else. If you like a name with several distinct routes, this one offers a short list.
- Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is widely taught in schools, and it is a tragic novel. The association is literary rather than unpleasant, but some readers will make it.
- Because it started as a pet form, people occasionally assume it is short for Theresa and ask for the longer version. A one-word answer settles it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Elodie
59%chance Elodie feels dated by 2040
Elodie 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.
Tessa
40%chance Tessa feels dated by 2040
Tessa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Elodie and Tessa 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 Elodie and Tessa?
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
Every list here names both Elodie and Tessa — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elodie or Tessa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elodie or Tessa?
- Elodie, in 2025: Elodie ranked #310 with 980 babies; Tessa ranked #311 with 978 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elodie or Tessa?
- Elodie. Over the last five years Elodie moved up 393 places; Tessa moved down 31 places.
- Which is the older name, Elodie or Tessa?
- Elodie entered the US charts in 1881; Tessa entered the US charts in 1891. On the American record, Elodie is the older name.
- How many people are named Elodie and Tessa?
- About 6,000 people named Elodie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 55,000 people named Tessa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elodies or Tessas in the classroom?
- Elodie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Tessa 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 Elodie, Tessa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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