Head to head · Girls' names
Georgina vs Lara
#689 vs #691 in 2025
Georgina is a whisker ahead (#689 vs #691 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Georgina is back after a long quiet spell, Lara is holding its place on the charts.
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, Georgina leads 4 measures of 6; Lara 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: Georgina #775, Lara #1147 — Georgina higher
- 1890s: Georgina #789, Lara #1520 — Georgina higher
- 1900s: Georgina #897, Lara #1651 — Georgina higher
- 1910s: Georgina #780, Lara #2235 — Georgina higher
- 1920s: Georgina #774, Lara #2048 — Georgina higher
- 1930s: Georgina #819, Lara #2286 — Georgina higher
- 1940s: Georgina #850, Lara #2829 — Georgina higher
- 1950s: Georgina #764, Lara #2231 — Georgina higher
- 1960s: Georgina #750, Lara #998 — Georgina higher
- 1970s: Georgina #670, Lara #327 — Lara higher
- 1980s: Georgina #863, Lara #417 — Lara higher
- 1990s: Georgina #1073, Lara #725 — Lara higher
- 2000s: Georgina #1498, Lara #811 — Lara higher
- 2010s: Georgina #1668, Lara #814 — Lara higher
- 2020s: Georgina #933, Lara #707 — Lara higher
Georgina stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Lara has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Georgina | Lara |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #775 | #1147 |
| 1890s | #789 | #1520 |
| 1900s | #897 | #1651 |
| 1910s | #780 | #2235 |
| 1920s | #774 | #2048 |
| 1930s | #819 | #2286 |
| 1940s | #850 | #2829 |
| 1950s | #764 | #2231 |
| 1960s | #750 | #998 |
| 1970s | #670 | #327 |
| 1980s | #863 | #417 |
| 1990s | #1073 | #725 |
| 2000s | #1498 | #811 |
| 2010s | #1668 | #814 |
| 2020s | #933 | #707 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Georgina
Not charting outside the US.
Lara
- England & Wales#98
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Georgina
farmer, earth-worker
From the Greek Geōrgios, built from gē 'earth' and ergon 'work'.
Geōrgios → Georgius → George → Georgina
How it traveled
The root is the Greek Geōrgios, a common name in the eastern Mediterranean long before it became a royal one, carried west by the cult of Saint George. English took it as George, and Latin-style feminine endings did the rest — Georgina and its cousin Georgiana both flowered in eighteenth-century Britain, when George I through George IV sat on the throne and aristocratic families named daughters in the same key.
Lara
No single settled meaning — most often read as a short form of Larisa, after the Greek city Larissa
Three separate roads meet at this spelling. As a Russian pet form of Larisa, it points back to Larissa in Thessaly, whose own place-name meaning has never been established. In Latin, Lara (also Larunda) is a figure in Ovid's Fasti, connected with the Lares, the household gods of Roman homes. And in Spanish and Portuguese, Lara is a surname from Lara de los Infantes in Burgos, home of the medieval House of Lara. None of the three cancels the others out.
Larissa (Greek city name) → Larisa → Lara
How it traveled
The name's clearest line runs through Russian, where Larisa has long been shortened to Lara in ordinary speech. English-speaking readers met it that way in Pasternak's Doctor Zhivago, published in the late 1950s, and then in the film of the following decade, whose theme tune bore her name and was played half to death.
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
Georgina
jor-JEE-nuh
Standard in both American and British English. A minority of speakers say jor-JYE-nuh, and the similar-looking Georgiana takes an extra syllable: jor-jee-AH-nuh.
- Georgie — The most common short form; also used for boys named George, and stands alone as a given name for either.
- Gina — Informal, and a long-established independent given name in its own right, especially among older generations.
- George — Used within families and among friends in Britain and Australia for women named Georgina.
- Gigi — Playful and informal, mostly used by family.
- Also Georgy.
Lara
LAH-rah
The first syllable takes the vowel of "father". Many American speakers say LAIR-ah instead, and both are heard without correction; it helps to say which one you mean the first few times.
- Lala — Affectionate home form, used with small children rather than in writing.
- Larie — Occasional informal extension; rare, and not used as a given name on its own.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Georgina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 613 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itGeorgina runs 3 syllables, Lara 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Georgie, Gina and George
- a long American recordGeorgina was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Lara if you want…
- a name holding steadyLara is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesLara is 2 syllables to Georgina's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLara is on the national lists of England & Wales
- a newer arrivalLara entered the US charts in 1887
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
Georgina
Strengths
- Instantly recognizable as the feminine of George, so people can spell it after hearing it once.
- Comes with a full set of ready-made short forms — Georgie, Gina, Gigi — that already work as everyday names.
- Works unchanged in Spanish and Portuguese, and shifts only slightly into Italian Giorgina.
To consider
- It sits close to Georgia, Georgiana and Gina, and people who half-hear it will guess one of those. Expect to repeat the ending.
- Four syllables invites shortening, so if you love the full name, be ready for others to reach for Georgie or Gina on their own.
- It is strongly represented among adults, which can make it read as a grown woman's name on a small child — though that is the ordinary fate of every name coming back around.
Lara
Strengths
- Four letters, one obvious spelling once the sound is known, and no silent letters to dictate over the phone.
- Used unchanged in Italian, Turkish, Croatian, Slovenian, German and Portuguese, so it travels without translation.
- On US records for well over a century, and currently in use in England and Wales too — familiar without being crowded.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate in American English — LAH-rah and LAIR-ah — so she will likely spend some of her life gently correcting people, or letting both stand.
- It sits close to Laura, Lauren, Clara and Larissa, and mishearings in that direction are common on introductions and voicemails.
- For a good many adults, the name recalls Lara Croft of the Tomb Raider games as readily as Pasternak's heroine. Neither association is unkind, but both are strong.
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 Georgina and Lara 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 Georgina and Lara?
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 these names appear on
- The best baby names starting with G
- British invasion: UK favorites still rare in the US
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Turkish and Armenian names in American use
- all guides
Where Georgina and Lara each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Georgina or Lara — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Georgina or Lara?
- Georgina, in 2025: Georgina ranked #689 with 410 babies; Lara ranked #691 with 409 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Georgina or Lara?
- Georgina. Over the last five years Georgina moved up 613 places; Lara moved up 16 places.
- Which is the older name, Georgina or Lara?
- Georgina was already in use when US records began in 1880; Lara entered the US charts in 1887. On the American record, Georgina is the older name.
- How many people are named Georgina and Lara?
- About 14,000 people named Georgina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 28,500 people named Lara are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Georginas or Laras in the classroom?
- Georgina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lara 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 Georgina, Lara 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