Head to head · Girls' names
Fatima vs Viviana
#330 vs #331 in 2025
Fatima is a whisker ahead (#330 vs #331 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Fatima is holding its place on the charts, Viviana is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Viviana 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, Fatima leads 4 measures of 6; Viviana 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
- 1900s: Fatima —, Viviana #1547 — Viviana higher
- 1910s: Fatima #4251, Viviana #3387 — Viviana higher
- 1920s: Fatima #4662, Viviana #3931 — Viviana higher
- 1930s: Fatima #3574, Viviana #3957 — Fatima higher
- 1940s: Fatima #3001, Viviana #4107 — Fatima higher
- 1950s: Fatima #2050, Viviana #4153 — Fatima higher
- 1960s: Fatima #1575, Viviana #2818 — Fatima higher
- 1970s: Fatima #933, Viviana #1468 — Fatima higher
- 1980s: Fatima #726, Viviana #820 — Fatima higher
- 1990s: Fatima #557, Viviana #521 — Viviana higher
- 2000s: Fatima #245, Viviana #438 — Fatima higher
- 2010s: Fatima #310, Viviana #445 — Fatima higher
- 2020s: Fatima #344, Viviana #380 — Fatima higher
Fatima stood higher in 9 of 13 decades; Fatima has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Fatima | Viviana |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | — | #1547 |
| 1910s | #4251 | #3387 |
| 1920s | #4662 | #3931 |
| 1930s | #3574 | #3957 |
| 1940s | #3001 | #4107 |
| 1950s | #2050 | #4153 |
| 1960s | #1575 | #2818 |
| 1970s | #933 | #1468 |
| 1980s | #726 | #820 |
| 1990s | #557 | #521 |
| 2000s | #245 | #438 |
| 2010s | #310 | #445 |
| 2020s | #344 | #380 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Fatima
- England & Wales#76
- Canada#100
Viviana
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
Fatima
one who weans, one who abstains
From the Arabic root f-ṭ-m, tied to the verb faṭama, 'to wean.' The connection to abstinence is part of the same root's range of sense.
Fāṭimah → Fatima → Fátima
How it traveled
The name is Arabic, and its fame rests on Fāṭimah, daughter of the Prophet Muhammad — among the most honored names in the Muslim world, and especially revered in Shia tradition. It spread with Arabic across North Africa, West Africa, Persia, Turkey and South Asia, taking a local shape in each place.
Viviana
alive, living
From Latin vivus, "alive," through the Roman family name Vivianus. Often rendered in English as "lively," which is a gloss rather than a strict translation.
Vivus → Vivianus → Viviana → Vivienne → Vivian
How it traveled
The name begins with the Roman cognomen Vivianus, formed from vivus, "alive" — one of a small group of Latin names built on the plain fact of being living. Its feminine form spread with the Latin church and settled permanently in Italian and Spanish, where the root is still visible to anyone who knows vivere or vivir.
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
Fatima
FAT-ih-mah
Stress falls on the first syllable in every major tradition. English speakers usually say FAT-ih-mah; Arabic and Portuguese speakers lengthen the first vowel closer to FAH-tee-mah. Both are correct, and a child will likely hear both.
- Fati — The most widespread affectionate short form, used across Arabic-, Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families.
- Fatou — Standard short form in Senegal, Mali and the Gambia, where it also stands on its own as a full given name.
- Fatma — A full given name in its own right in Turkey and Egypt, and used elsewhere as a familiar form of Fatima.
- Tima — Informal, family-level; drops the first syllable rather than keeping it.
- Also Fifi.
Viviana
vee-vee-AH-nah
That is the Spanish and Italian reading, and the one most Vivianas in the US answer to. English speakers unfamiliar with the name sometimes produce vih-vee-AN-uh, on the pattern of Vivian; both are heard, so it is worth deciding early which one your family uses.
- Vivi — The most common short form in both English and Spanish; informal, and used well into adulthood.
- Viv — The clipped English version, one syllable; also long-standing as a short form of Vivian and Vivienne.
- Vi — Shorter still, more often heard among older generations of Vivians.
- Ana — Taken from the tail of the name rather than the front; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Also Vivian.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Fatima if you want…
- a name holding steadyFatima is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesFatima is 3 syllables to Viviana's 4
- a name that charts abroad tooFatima is on the national lists of England & Wales and Canada
Choose Viviana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 78 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itViviana runs 4 syllables, Fatima 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
Fatima
Strengths
- Recognized on several continents and in several major languages, so it needs no explanation in most of the world.
- Phonetic in English — people who have never seen it written can usually spell it after hearing it once.
- A long unbroken run in American records, without ever becoming a name found in every classroom.
To consider
- The English pronunciation opens with the sound of the word 'fat,' and school-age teasing along that line does happen. Families who prefer the FAH-tee-mah pronunciation often find it heads this off.
- The name carries strong and specific religious weight in both Islam and Catholicism. Many families choose it precisely for that; others should know that people will often draw a conclusion about the family's background from it.
- Close variants — Fatimah, Fatma, Fátima with the accent — are all in circulation, so expect occasional forms filled in with the wrong one.
Viviana
Strengths
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Italian and English — same spelling, only a small shift in the vowels.
- Ready-made short forms in real use: Vivi, Viv, Ana.
- A documented Latin line running back to the Roman name Vivianus, with the meaning still legible in the word itself.
To consider
- It sits in a crowded family — Vivian, Vivienne, Viviane, Bibiana — and people will sometimes write one of those instead. Expect a lifetime of small corrections.
- The stress moves depending on who is speaking: vee-vee-AH-nah in Spanish and Italian, vih-vee-AN-uh from some English speakers. Neither is wrong, but the two versions coexist.
- Four syllables is a lot of name, so it pairs best with a surname that gives the mouth somewhere to land — and the short forms are there when it doesn't.
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 Fatima and Viviana 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 Fatima and Viviana?
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 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 Fatima and Viviana — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Fatima or Viviana — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Fatima or Viviana?
- Fatima, in 2025: Fatima ranked #330 with 931 babies; Viviana ranked #331 with 928 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Fatima or Viviana?
- Viviana. Over the last five years Fatima moved up 12 places; Viviana moved up 78 places.
- Which is the older name, Fatima or Viviana?
- Fatima entered the US charts in 1919; Viviana entered the US charts in 1908. On the American record, Viviana is the older name.
- How many people are named Fatima and Viviana?
- About 38,500 people named Fatima are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 27,000 people named Viviana are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Fatimas or Vivianas in the classroom?
- Fatima will almost certainly be the only one in school. Viviana 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
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