Head to head · Girls' names
Gemma vs Vivienne
#170 vs #172 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Gemma is a whisker ahead (#170 vs #172 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Gemma leads 4 measures of 6; Vivienne 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
- 1890s: Gemma —, Vivienne #1299 — Vivienne higher
- 1900s: Gemma #1687, Vivienne #1318 — Vivienne higher
- 1910s: Gemma #1591, Vivienne #769 — Vivienne higher
- 1920s: Gemma #1964, Vivienne #918 — Vivienne higher
- 1930s: Gemma #2277, Vivienne #1554 — Vivienne higher
- 1940s: Gemma #2204, Vivienne #1602 — Vivienne higher
- 1950s: Gemma #1906, Vivienne #1922 — Gemma higher
- 1960s: Gemma #2255, Vivienne #3061 — Gemma higher
- 1970s: Gemma #2762, Vivienne #5305 — Gemma higher
- 1980s: Gemma #2382, Vivienne #6573 — Gemma higher
- 1990s: Gemma #1855, Vivienne #3981 — Gemma higher
- 2000s: Gemma #1176, Vivienne #1799 — Gemma higher
- 2010s: Gemma #291, Vivienne #296 — Gemma higher
- 2020s: Gemma #191, Vivienne #245 — Gemma higher
Gemma stood higher in 8 of 14 decades; Gemma has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gemma | Vivienne |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1299 |
| 1900s | #1687 | #1318 |
| 1910s | #1591 | #769 |
| 1920s | #1964 | #918 |
| 1930s | #2277 | #1554 |
| 1940s | #2204 | #1602 |
| 1950s | #1906 | #1922 |
| 1960s | #2255 | #3061 |
| 1970s | #2762 | #5305 |
| 1980s | #2382 | #6573 |
| 1990s | #1855 | #3981 |
| 2000s | #1176 | #1799 |
| 2010s | #291 | #296 |
| 2020s | #191 | #245 |
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
Gemma
Gem, precious stone
Directly from Latin gemma, which meant both a bud on a vine and a jewel. Italian kept the word unchanged as a given name.
Latin gemma → Italian Gemma → Catalan/Spanish Gema → English Gemma
How it traveled
Gemma began as an ordinary Latin noun and became a personal name in medieval Italy, where it was given as a term of endearment — the child as the jewel. Its best-known early bearer is Gemma Donati, the Florentine woman who married Dante Alighieri in the late thirteenth century.
Vivienne
alive, living
From Latin vivus, "alive", through the Roman name Vivianus and its feminine Viviana.
Vivianus → Viviana → Viviane → Vivienne
How it traveled
The root is the Roman name Vivianus, formed from the Latin vivus, "alive". Its feminine, Viviana, passed into Old French as Viviane and Vivienne, and it was in French Arthurian prose romance of the thirteenth century that Viviane became the name of the Lady of the Lake.
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
Gemma
JEM-uh
Soft G, as in gem, in English, Italian and Catalan alike. A hard-G reading (GHEM-ah) is the usual first guess from speakers of languages where G stays hard before E, so expect to correct it now and then.
- Gem — The standard short form in English, informal, and occasionally written Jem.
- Gemmy — Family-level diminutive, mostly used with small children.
- Em — Occasional, borrowed from the second syllable; more common where an Emma or Emily is not already in the house.
Vivienne
viv-ee-EN
Also widely said VIV-ee-en with the weight on the first syllable; both are accepted in American English. The French original puts the stress on the final syllable, which is where the four-beat version comes from.
- Viv — The standard short form across the whole Vivian family, and used on its own in casual speech and in print.
- Vivi — Informal, common with small children; sometimes written Vivvy.
- Vee — Initial-based and very informal, used within families and among friends.
- Vivie — An older written short form, appearing in English texts of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
Who has carried each name
Gemma
Gemma Chan (b. 1982) — Crazy Rich Asians star
Gemma Arterton (b. 1986) — Bond girl turned acclaimed stage actress
Vivienne
Vivienne Westwood (b. 1941) — The designer who brought punk to fashion
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Gemma if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesGemma is 2 syllables to Vivienne's 3
Choose Vivienne if you want…
- a name on the way upup 89 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itVivienne runs 3 syllables, Gemma 2
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
Gemma
Strengths
- Spells itself from the sound and reads correctly on sight for most English speakers, with no variant spellings competing for attention.
- Transparent meaning — the Latin word for jewel, unchanged — so the sense never needs explaining or defending.
- Works unaltered in Italian, Catalan and Dutch, and needs only one dropped letter in Spanish.
To consider
- It rhymes closely with Emma, one of the most-used girls' names of the past few decades. Expect the occasional mishearing on the phone and in classrooms where an Emma is already sitting.
- The soft G is not obvious to everyone. Speakers of Italian aside, people who read it before they hear it sometimes try a hard G, and the correction becomes a small lifelong habit.
- The name is climbing steadily in the US rather than holding flat, so a child born now may meet more Gemmas at twenty than at five — worth knowing if rarity is part of the appeal.
Vivienne
Strengths
- Two well-worn short forms, Viv and Vivi, both in real use for generations and neither invented for the occasion.
- A documented line running from Latin through French to English, with a meaning that is settled rather than argued over.
- The same name exists in French, Italian and Spanish, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- Three spellings compete — Vivian, Vivien and Vivienne — and all three are legitimate. Expect to spell it out at appointments and on forms for life.
- Vivian has a long history as a man's name in Britain and as a surname, so the wider family reads as unisex even though this spelling does not.
- The pronunciation splits between viv-ee-EN and VIV-ee-en, and both will be used by people meeting her for the first time.
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 Gemma and Vivienne 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 Gemma and Vivienne?
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 Gemma and Vivienne — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gemma or Vivienne — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gemma or Vivienne?
- Gemma, in 2025: Gemma ranked #170 with 1,805 babies; Vivienne ranked #172 with 1,786 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gemma or Vivienne?
- Vivienne. Over the last five years Gemma moved up 38 places; Vivienne moved up 89 places.
- Which is the older name, Gemma or Vivienne?
- Gemma entered the US charts in 1904; Vivienne entered the US charts in 1895. On the American record, Vivienne is the older name.
- How many people are named Gemma and Vivienne?
- About 25,000 people named Gemma are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,000 people named Vivienne are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gemmas or Viviennes in the classroom?
- Gemma will almost certainly be the only one in school. Vivienne 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Gemma, Vivienne 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