Head to head · Girls' names
Estelle vs Lina
#573 vs #572 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
Lina is a whisker ahead (#572 vs #573 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Lina leads 3 measures of 6; Estelle 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: Estelle #133, Lina #295 — Estelle higher
- 1890s: Estelle #129, Lina #373 — Estelle higher
- 1900s: Estelle #121, Lina #471 — Estelle higher
- 1910s: Estelle #120, Lina #619 — Estelle higher
- 1920s: Estelle #178, Lina #726 — Estelle higher
- 1930s: Estelle #265, Lina #821 — Estelle higher
- 1940s: Estelle #414, Lina #1010 — Estelle higher
- 1950s: Estelle #685, Lina #1169 — Estelle higher
- 1960s: Estelle #1057, Lina #1144 — Estelle higher
- 1970s: Estelle #1700, Lina #1138 — Lina higher
- 1980s: Estelle #2316, Lina #1076 — Lina higher
- 1990s: Estelle #3107, Lina #1075 — Lina higher
- 2000s: Estelle #2023, Lina #974 — Lina higher
- 2010s: Estelle #954, Lina #802 — Lina higher
- 2020s: Estelle #699, Lina #611 — Lina higher
Estelle stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Lina has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Estelle | Lina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #133 | #295 |
| 1890s | #129 | #373 |
| 1900s | #121 | #471 |
| 1910s | #120 | #619 |
| 1920s | #178 | #726 |
| 1930s | #265 | #821 |
| 1940s | #414 | #1010 |
| 1950s | #685 | #1169 |
| 1960s | #1057 | #1144 |
| 1970s | #1700 | #1138 |
| 1980s | #2316 | #1076 |
| 1990s | #3107 | #1075 |
| 2000s | #2023 | #974 |
| 2010s | #954 | #802 |
| 2020s | #699 | #611 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Estelle
Not charting outside the US.
Lina
- France#17
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Estelle
star
From Latin stella, 'star', by way of the Old French form Estelle.
Stella → Estelle → Estella → Estela
How it traveled
The root is the Latin stella, star, which gave Old French Estelle and the Spanish and Portuguese Estela. In southwestern France the name attached to Saint Estelle of Saintes, an early martyr venerated in the Charente region, and the form stayed alive in French and Occitan use for centuries.
Lina
Two roads: the ending of names like Carolina, Angelina and Adelina, cut loose; and an Arabic name from a word for softness, used for a young palm tree
The European Lina is a clipping — the final syllables of Latin-derived names in ‑lina, used so long on their own that they became a name in their own right. That path carries no meaning beyond its parent name's. The Arabic لينا comes from the root for soft or tender; līna is also a word for a kind of palm, which appears in the Qur'an (59:5). Both are genuine, and a given Lina may come from either.
Carolina, Adelina, Angelina → Lina
How it traveled
The ‑lina ending belongs to a long family of Latin names — Carolina, Adelina, Paulina, Evelina — and in Italy, Germany and Scandinavia the habit of shortening them to the last two syllables goes back centuries. By the nineteenth century Lina was being registered as a full given name in its own right across German- and Italian-speaking Europe, and it traveled to the United States with those families.
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
Estelle
eh-STEL
Stress on the second syllable in both English and French. French speakers say it much the same way, with a crisper final consonant.
- Essie — The traditional short form in English use; also given as a standalone name in earlier generations.
- Stella — Used informally as a short form, though it stands on its own as a full given name and is far more common that way.
- Elle — A modern clipping, informal, and independently in use as a given name.
- Es — Purely informal, family-and-friends level.
- Also Tellie.
Lina
LEE-nuh
LEE-nuh is the standard reading in English, Arabic, German, Italian and Spanish alike. Where the name is taken as a short form of Carolina, some English speakers say LY-nuh, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people to.
- Lin — Informal clipping; also used as a standalone name in its own right, particularly in Chinese contexts where it is unrelated.
- Linny — Affectionate family form, mostly used with young children.
- Li — Very short informal address within families; rarely written.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Estelle if you want…
- a name on the way upup 226 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Essie, Stella and Elle
Choose Lina if you want…
- a name that charts abroad tooLina is on the national lists of France
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
Estelle
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for most English speakers, with only the Estelle/Estella distinction to clarify.
- Has established short forms already in real use — Essie, Stella, Elle — rather than ones you would have to invent.
- Travels across French, Spanish and Portuguese with only a small change of spelling.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded neighborhood of sound: Estella, Estela, Stella and Esther are all close enough that people will occasionally reach for the wrong one, in speech and in writing.
- The great mass of American Estelles belongs to much older generations, so the name still reads as a grandmother-era one to many ears — which is precisely why it is coming back, but worth knowing.
- Stella is currently the far more familiar of the two, and an Estelle may find herself shortened to it by default unless the family sets a different habit early.
Lina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and read the same way in Arabic, German, Italian, Spanish and Swedish — it crosses borders without changing shape.
- Complete on its own, but it also works as the everyday form of Carolina, Angelina or Adelina if you want a longer name on the certificate.
- Familiar in sound without being crowded — a child is unlikely to share it in a classroom.
To consider
- Lena, Leena, Lyna and Lina all circulate, and so do two pronunciations. Expect a lifetime of small corrections — a friendly one, but constant.
- On the phone it is easily heard as Nina, Lena or Tina. Spelling it out becomes routine.
- It is very short, which reads well beside a longer surname and can feel clipped beside a one-syllable one. Worth saying the full name aloud a few times.
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 Estelle and Lina 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 Estelle and Lina?
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 Estelle and Lina — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Estelle or Lina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Estelle or Lina?
- Lina, in 2025: Lina ranked #572 with 527 babies; Estelle ranked #573 with 523 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Estelle or Lina?
- Estelle. Over the last five years Estelle moved up 226 places; Lina moved up 118 places.
- Which is the older name, Estelle or Lina?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Estelle and Lina?
- About 14,000 people named Estelle are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 15,000 people named Lina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Estelles or Linas in the classroom?
- Estelle will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lina 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 Estelle, Lina and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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