Head to head · Girls' names
Elsie vs Hadley
#123 vs #121 in 2025
Hadley is a whisker ahead (#121 vs #123 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Hadley is holding its place on the charts, Elsie is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Elsie 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
The tape is even: Elsie and Hadley each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Elsie #59, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1890s: Elsie #35, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1900s: Elsie #39, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1910s: Elsie #45, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1920s: Elsie #64, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1930s: Elsie #112, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1940s: Elsie #205, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1950s: Elsie #383, Hadley — — Elsie higher
- 1960s: Elsie #633, Hadley #5528 — Elsie higher
- 1970s: Elsie #1001, Hadley #3612 — Elsie higher
- 1980s: Elsie #1191, Hadley #2819 — Elsie higher
- 1990s: Elsie #1212, Hadley #1535 — Elsie higher
- 2000s: Elsie #1010, Hadley #641 — Hadley higher
- 2010s: Elsie #376, Hadley #128 — Hadley higher
- 2020s: Elsie #181, Hadley #115 — Hadley higher
Elsie stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Hadley has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Elsie | Hadley |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #59 | — |
| 1890s | #35 | — |
| 1900s | #39 | — |
| 1910s | #45 | — |
| 1920s | #64 | — |
| 1930s | #112 | — |
| 1940s | #205 | — |
| 1950s | #383 | — |
| 1960s | #633 | #5528 |
| 1970s | #1001 | #3612 |
| 1980s | #1191 | #2819 |
| 1990s | #1212 | #1535 |
| 2000s | #1010 | #641 |
| 2010s | #376 | #128 |
| 2020s | #181 | #115 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Elsie
- England & Wales#10
- Scotland#21
Hadley
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
Elsie
My God is an oath
The name descends from Elizabeth, whose Hebrew original joins the name of God to a word about oaths or abundance — the second half has been argued over for a long time. Some bearers come instead from Alice or from Elspeth, the Scottish form, and the short form does not distinguish them.
Elizabeth → Elspeth → Elsie
How it traveled
The cow came out of a dairy advertising campaign and outgrew it completely, appearing at a world's fair, in films, and on packaging for the better part of a century — at one point more Americans could identify her than could name their own senators. The photographs are stranger.
Hadley
heather clearing, from Old English
The place names behind the surname — Hadley in Shropshire, Hadleigh in Suffolk and Essex — are usually read as Old English hæð 'heath, heather' plus lēah 'clearing, meadow', giving 'clearing in the heather'. For some of these places, scholars instead read the first element as the Old English personal name Hadda, making it 'Hadda's clearing'. Either way, the second half is the same lēah that ends dozens of English names.
hæð + lēah (Old English) → Hadleigh / Hadley (English place name) → Hadley (English surname) → Hadley (given name)
How it traveled
The name starts as land: several English villages called Hadley or Hadleigh, named in Old English for a clearing on heathland, some of them on record by the time of the Domesday survey in the eleventh century. Families who came from those places took the name with them, and by the era of English settlement in North America, Hadley was traveling as a surname on both sides of the Atlantic — it is also the name of a Massachusetts town founded in the seventeenth century.
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
Elsie
EL-see
Two syllables, stress at the front. The s is said as a soft s rather than a z, unlike in Elsa.
- Els — The name without its ending, brisk and current.
- Elle — The front alone, and a complete name in French.
Hadley
HAD-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the flat 'a' of 'had'. Almost no one hesitates over it in English — the difficulty is spelling, not saying.
- Haddie — The most common affectionate short form; used at home rather than on paperwork.
- Hads — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings.
- Had — A blunt one-syllable clip, more often heard from family than from classmates.
- Lee — Drawn from the second syllable; stands on its own as a given name for either sex.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Elsie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 110 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooElsie is on the national lists of England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordElsie was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Hadley if you want…
- a name holding steadyHadley is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Haddie, Hads and Had
- a newer arrivalHadley entered the US charts in 1964
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
Elsie
Strengths
- It is short, warm and easy for a small child to say about herself.
- It has a formal name of great standing behind it.
- It is coming back into use after a long absence, which suits a name of this age.
To consider
- The dairy mascot is still the first association for many Americans.
- Elsie, Elsy and Ellsie are all recorded and hers will be written as one of them.
- The spelling is recorded for boys as well, though it belongs overwhelmingly to the girls.
Hadley
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, and needs no explanation of how to say it.
- A documented Old English place-name origin, traceable to real villages and to a long-established surname.
- Has natural short forms — Haddie, Hads, Lee — without requiring any.
To consider
- The spelling has real competition: Hadleigh, Hadlee and Hadly all exist, so expect to confirm it fairly often, especially on the phone.
- It sits in a crowded sound-neighborhood — Harley, Hayley, Haley, Halle — and mishearings between them are common.
- Surname-style girls' names arrived in a distinct wave, and almost everyone carrying this one is still a child, so it may read as belonging to a particular generation later on.
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 Elsie and Hadley 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 Elsie and Hadley?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Elsie and Hadley — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Elsie or Hadley — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Elsie or Hadley?
- Hadley, in 2025: Hadley ranked #121 with 2,254 babies; Elsie ranked #123 with 2,236 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Elsie or Hadley?
- Elsie. Over the last five years Elsie moved up 110 places; Hadley moved down 10 places.
- Which is the older name, Elsie or Hadley?
- Elsie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Hadley entered the US charts in 1964. On the American record, Elsie is the older name.
- How many people are named Elsie and Hadley?
- About 46,500 people named Elsie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,500 people named Hadley are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Elsies or Hadleys in the classroom?
- Elsie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Hadley 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 Elsie, Hadley and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap