Head to head · Girls' names
Gianna vs Scarlett
#33 vs #32 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Scarlett is a whisker ahead (#32 vs #33 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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, Scarlett leads 4 measures of 6; Gianna 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
- 1930s: Gianna —, Scarlett #3570 — Scarlett higher
- 1940s: Gianna —, Scarlett #1120 — Scarlett higher
- 1950s: Gianna #4355, Scarlett #1395 — Scarlett higher
- 1960s: Gianna #2206, Scarlett #1095 — Scarlett higher
- 1970s: Gianna #2121, Scarlett #1264 — Scarlett higher
- 1980s: Gianna #1569, Scarlett #1180 — Scarlett higher
- 1990s: Gianna #489, Scarlett #898 — Gianna higher
- 2000s: Gianna #132, Scarlett #529 — Gianna higher
- 2010s: Gianna #82, Scarlett #43 — Scarlett higher
- 2020s: Gianna #21, Scarlett #22 — Gianna higher
Scarlett stood higher in 7 of 10 decades; Gianna took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gianna | Scarlett |
|---|---|---|
| 1930s | — | #3570 |
| 1940s | — | #1120 |
| 1950s | #4355 | #1395 |
| 1960s | #2206 | #1095 |
| 1970s | #2121 | #1264 |
| 1980s | #1569 | #1180 |
| 1990s | #489 | #898 |
| 2000s | #132 | #529 |
| 2010s | #82 | #43 |
| 2020s | #21 | #22 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Gianna
- Canada#92
Scarlett
- Canada#41
- England & Wales#79
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Gianna
God is gracious
From Hebrew Yochanan, "Yahweh is gracious" — the source of John and all its feminine forms.
Yochanan → Ioanna → Iohanna → Giovanna → Gianna
How it traveled
The root is Hebrew Yochanan, carried into Greek as Ioannes and Ioanna by the translators and writers of the Bible, then into Latin as Iohannes and Iohanna. Italian turned the masculine into Giovanni and the feminine into Giovanna, and everyday speech clipped both: Gianni for men, Gianna for women.
Scarlett
From scarlet — the cloth, and later the color; originally an occupational surname for a dyer or seller of scarlet cloth
The English surname comes through Old French escarlate, a word for a costly cloth. Only later did scarlet come to name the red itself, which is why the name reads today as a color word rather than a trade.
escarlate (Old French, a fine cloth) → scarlat (Middle English) → Scarlett (English surname) → Scarlett (given name)
How it traveled
The word traveled west into Old French as escarlate and into Middle English as scarlat, naming an expensive imported fabric. From it came the English surname Scarlett, attested for centuries in records before anyone thought to put it in front of a family name.
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
Gianna
jee-AH-nuh
Also said JAH-nuh, closer to the Italian, where the i is only there to soften the g. Both are standard in the US; expect to state which one you use.
- Gia — The most common short form, and widely used as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Gigi — Informal and affectionate; also used independently and as a grandmother name in some families.
- Anna — Drawn from the tail of the name; formal enough to stand alone on a document.
- Nina — An informal Italian-style pet form, less common in American use.
Scarlett
SKAR-lit
Stress on the first syllable. The second is said either -lit or -let depending on accent, and both pass without comment. English speakers read it correctly on sight because it is also an everyday word.
- Lettie — Taken from the final syllable; informal, and also stands alone as an older given name in its own right.
- Letty — Same short form, spelled the shorter way; informal home and family use.
- Scarlie — Affectionate family clipping, mostly used with young children.
- Scar — The blunt playground shortening; some families head it off early, others never hear it at all.
Who has carried each name
Gianna
No documented entry for Gianna yet.
Scarlett
Scarlett Johansson (b. 1984) — Marvel's Black Widow, once the world's highest-paid actress
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 Gianna if you want…
- a name with more sound in itGianna runs 3 syllables, Scarlett 2
Choose Scarlett if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesScarlett is 2 syllables to Gianna's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooScarlett is on the national lists of Canada and England & Wales
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
Gianna
Strengths
- Belongs to one of the oldest continuously used name families in Europe, alongside Jane, Joan, Joanna, Jeanne and Juana.
- Two clear short forms already in general use — Gia and Gigi — plus the full name for formal settings.
- Short, two or three syllables, with no silent letters and no consonant clusters to trip over.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate — jee-AH-nuh and JAH-nuh — and she will likely correct people in both directions for life.
- Spelling is easy to hear wrong: Giana, Jiana, Gianna and Johanna all sound close enough to be guessed at.
- The American wave is very recent, so the name reads as contemporary and its bearers skew strongly toward children rather than adults.
Scarlett
Strengths
- Pronounced correctly on sight by any English speaker — it is a word people already know how to say.
- A documented surname in England for centuries before it became a first name, so the record behind it is long and real.
- In steady use across the United States, Canada and Britain, with the same spelling and sound in all three.
To consider
- The color word takes one t; the name usually takes two. Expect a lifetime of gently correcting Scarlet to Scarlett.
- The name arrived in English through one famous novel about the antebellum South, a book now widely criticized for how it portrays slavery. Some parents mind that link; many no longer think of it.
- Scar is the obvious clipping, and children find it fast. Worth knowing in advance rather than being surprised by it.
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 Gianna and Scarlett 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 Gianna and Scarlett?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Gianna and Scarlett — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gianna or Scarlett — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gianna or Scarlett?
- Scarlett, in 2025: Scarlett ranked #32 with 5,644 babies; Gianna ranked #33 with 5,634 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gianna or Scarlett?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Gianna moved down 20 places; Scarlett moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Gianna or Scarlett?
- Gianna entered the US charts in 1951; Scarlett entered the US charts in 1937. On the American record, Scarlett is the older name.
- How many people are named Gianna and Scarlett?
- About 109,000 people named Gianna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 111,000 people named Scarlett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Giannas or Scarletts in the classroom?
- Gianna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Scarlett 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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