Head to head · Girls' names
Faye vs Hanna
#514 vs #511 in 2025
Hanna is a whisker ahead (#511 vs #514 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Hanna is holding its place on the charts, Faye is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Faye 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, Hanna leads 3 measures of 6; Faye 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: Faye #417, Hanna #423 — Faye higher
- 1890s: Faye #261, Hanna #542 — Faye higher
- 1900s: Faye #212, Hanna #798 — Faye higher
- 1910s: Faye #201, Hanna #1060 — Faye higher
- 1920s: Faye #197, Hanna #1669 — Faye higher
- 1930s: Faye #160, Hanna #2008 — Faye higher
- 1940s: Faye #177, Hanna #2322 — Faye higher
- 1950s: Faye #264, Hanna #2700 — Faye higher
- 1960s: Faye #500, Hanna #2751 — Faye higher
- 1970s: Faye #884, Hanna #2073 — Faye higher
- 1980s: Faye #1321, Hanna #740 — Hanna higher
- 1990s: Faye #2246, Hanna #238 — Hanna higher
- 2000s: Faye #1801, Hanna #263 — Hanna higher
- 2010s: Faye #973, Hanna #488 — Hanna higher
- 2020s: Faye #568, Hanna #528 — Hanna higher
Faye stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Hanna has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Faye | Hanna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #417 | #423 |
| 1890s | #261 | #542 |
| 1900s | #212 | #798 |
| 1910s | #201 | #1060 |
| 1920s | #197 | #1669 |
| 1930s | #160 | #2008 |
| 1940s | #177 | #2322 |
| 1950s | #264 | #2700 |
| 1960s | #500 | #2751 |
| 1970s | #884 | #2073 |
| 1980s | #1321 | #740 |
| 1990s | #2246 | #238 |
| 2000s | #1801 | #263 |
| 2010s | #973 | #488 |
| 2020s | #568 | #528 |
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
Faye
fairy (from Middle English fay)
Faye is usually traced to fay, 'fairy,' which came into English from Old French fae. It has also been used as a short form of Faith, and the two roads arrive at the same spelling.
fata (Latin) → fae (Old French) → fay (Middle English) → Faye
How it traveled
Fay came into English from Old French in the Middle Ages, and the spelling Faye grew up beside it as a given name. It is easy to confuse with fey, but the two words are unrelated: fey comes from Old English fæge, 'doomed to die,' and drifted toward 'otherworldly' only much later, partly under the pull of fay.
Hanna
grace, favor
From Hebrew ḥannāh, built on a root meaning to show favor or be gracious.
Ḥannāh → Anna → Hannah → Hanna
How it traveled
The name belongs to the mother of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, whose story of long-awaited childbirth is told in the first book of Samuel. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures wrote it without its initial breath as Anna, and that shorter form spread across the Roman and then the Christian world, giving Anne, Ana and Annie.
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
Faye
FAY
One syllable, rhyming with day; the final e is silent.
Hanna
HAN-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, identical in sound to Hannah in American English. In German and the Nordic languages the first vowel is broader and the ending crisper: HAH-na.
- Han — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings; not used in writing.
- Hannie — Affectionate family form, familiar in English and Dutch usage.
- Hanni — The standard affectionate form in German-speaking countries.
- Hania — Polish diminutive, used warmly and also standing on its own.
- Also Nan.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Faye if you want…
- a name on the way upup 173 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesFaye is 1 syllable to Hanna's 2
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Faye
Choose Hanna if you want…
- a name holding steadyHanna is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itHanna runs 2 syllables, Faye 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Han, Hannie and Hanni
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
Faye
Strengths
- One syllable, said the same way by every English speaker.
- Works as a first name or as a short middle name between longer ones.
- An old English word and a famous actress stand behind it.
To consider
- It will be spelled Fay or Fae as often as Faye, so expect to spell it out.
- It sounds exactly like fey, a word now meaning whimsical or otherworldly, and a few people will make the link.
- A very few boys are recorded with it; as a name long given to girls, it will read as feminine.
Hanna
Strengths
- Sounds exactly like Hannah, so no one ever has to ask how to say it.
- Two syllables spelled the way they sound — easy for a child to write early.
- The standard spelling across German, Nordic, Finnish, Hungarian and Polish usage, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- The H-less ending will be corrected for life. Hannah is the far more common American spelling, so expect forms, teachers and autocorrect to add the final H, and expect to spell it aloud often.
- It sits inside a crowded sound-alike family — Hannah, Hana, Anna, Ana, Anne. Recognition is instant; precision takes a beat.
- Hanna is also a men's name among Arabic-speaking Christian families, and a familiar English and Irish surname. Neither causes real confusion in US usage, but both are worth knowing about.
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 Faye and Hanna 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 Faye and Hanna?
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
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Grandmother-chic: 1920s names ready to return
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Names that begin and end with the same letter
- all guides
Where Faye and Hanna each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Faye or Hanna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Faye or Hanna?
- Hanna, in 2025: Hanna ranked #511 with 580 babies; Faye ranked #514 with 579 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Faye or Hanna?
- Faye. Over the last five years Faye moved up 173 places; Hanna moved up 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Faye or Hanna?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Faye and Hanna?
- About 35,000 people named Faye are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 40,000 people named Hanna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Fayes or Hannas in the classroom?
- Faye will almost certainly be the only one in school. Hanna 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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