Head to head · Boys' names
Frederick vs Lewis
#435 vs #433 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Lewis is a whisker ahead (#433 vs #435 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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, Lewis leads 4 measures of 6; Frederick leads 1.
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: Frederick #39, Lewis #41 — Frederick higher
- 1890s: Frederick #52, Lewis #56 — Frederick higher
- 1900s: Frederick #65, Lewis #62 — Lewis higher
- 1910s: Frederick #55, Lewis #70 — Frederick higher
- 1920s: Frederick #63, Lewis #78 — Frederick higher
- 1930s: Frederick #73, Lewis #97 — Frederick higher
- 1940s: Frederick #72, Lewis #118 — Frederick higher
- 1950s: Frederick #89, Lewis #160 — Frederick higher
- 1960s: Frederick #112, Lewis #218 — Frederick higher
- 1970s: Frederick #135, Lewis #271 — Frederick higher
- 1980s: Frederick #196, Lewis #337 — Frederick higher
- 1990s: Frederick #311, Lewis #477 — Frederick higher
- 2000s: Frederick #463, Lewis #640 — Frederick higher
- 2010s: Frederick #506, Lewis #593 — Frederick higher
- 2020s: Frederick #467, Lewis #468 — Frederick higher
Frederick stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Frederick has held the lead since the 1910s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Frederick | Lewis |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #39 | #41 |
| 1890s | #52 | #56 |
| 1900s | #65 | #62 |
| 1910s | #55 | #70 |
| 1920s | #63 | #78 |
| 1930s | #73 | #97 |
| 1940s | #72 | #118 |
| 1950s | #89 | #160 |
| 1960s | #112 | #218 |
| 1970s | #135 | #271 |
| 1980s | #196 | #337 |
| 1990s | #311 | #477 |
| 2000s | #463 | #640 |
| 2010s | #506 | #593 |
| 2020s | #467 | #468 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Frederick
- England & Wales#55
Lewis
- Scotland#22
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Frederick
Peaceful ruler
Two Germanic elements: one about peace, one about rule or power. The compound is transparent in German, where both halves are still recognizable words, and completely opaque in English, which borrowed the whole thing and none of the parts.
Fridurih → Friedrich → Frederick
How it traveled
The name means peace and the kings who carried it spent their reigns at war. The Prussian line took it four times, fought Austria for a province and kept it, fought most of Europe at once and survived, and built a state whose defining institution was its army; the great one of them wrote a treatise against political cynicism as a young man and then conducted a reign that reads as an argument against it.
Lewis
Famous warrior
The name descends from a Germanic compound about fame and battle, by way of the French royal name. The Scottish island called Lewis is a completely separate word from a different language and has no connection to the personal name.
Hludwig → Louis → Lewis
How it traveled
Two things carry the name and neither is a person. The Lewis chessmen were found on a beach in the Hebrides in the eighteen-thirties — ninety-odd pieces of carved walrus ivory, probably made in Norway, with expressions on the faces that have made them the most recognizable medieval objects in Britain: queens with their hands to their cheeks, bishops looking tired, berserkers biting their shields.
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
Frederick
FRED-rik
Two or three syllables depending on how carefully the middle one is said; most English speakers give it two. German gives all three and pronounces the ch as a rasp.
- Fred — The standard English short form; plain, adult and universally understood.
- Freddie — The same softened; unisex, warm and entirely current.
- Rick — Built from the back; a complete given name in its own right.
Lewis
LOO-iss
Two syllables, stress at the front. The English form sounds its final s; the French one does not.
- Lew — The front clipped, plain and durable.
- Lou — The same sound from the French spelling, unisex in American use.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Frederick if you want…
- a name holding steadyFrederick is holding its place on the charts
Choose Lewis if you want…
- a name on the way upup 64 places on the charts in five years
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
Frederick
Strengths
- Three short forms in three quite different registers.
- The meaning is concrete and can be given to a child in two words.
- It has been in continuous English use for a thousand years.
To consider
- The record carries it for girls in small numbers, so it is not quite an absolute signal.
- Frederic and Fredrick are both current and spelling it out is a permanent job.
- It is a long formal name and other people will shorten it immediately.
Lewis
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and the name is understood across Europe.
- It works equally as a first name and a surname, which few names do.
- It has short forms that are warm without being childish.
To consider
- Louis is the commoner spelling in many countries and the two are said differently.
- The spelling is recorded for both sexes, though the boys hold nearly all of it.
- It is a very common surname, which occasionally confuses a form.
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 Frederick and Lewis in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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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 Frederick and Lewis — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Frederick or Lewis — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Frederick or Lewis?
- Lewis, in 2025: Lewis ranked #433 with 736 babies; Frederick ranked #435 with 728 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Frederick or Lewis?
- Lewis. Over the last five years Frederick moved up 49 places; Lewis moved up 64 places.
- Which is the older name, Frederick or Lewis?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Frederick and Lewis?
- About 136,000 people named Frederick are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 65,000 people named Lewis are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Fredericks or Lewiss in the classroom?
- Frederick will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lewis 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
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