Head to head · Girls' names
Gracie vs Mackenzie
#227 vs #228 in 2025
Gracie is a whisker ahead (#227 vs #228 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Gracie is holding its place on the charts, Mackenzie is stepping back from its peak.
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, Gracie leads 3 measures of 6; Mackenzie 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: Gracie #334, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1890s: Gracie #289, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1900s: Gracie #254, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1910s: Gracie #283, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1920s: Gracie #291, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1930s: Gracie #298, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1940s: Gracie #370, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1950s: Gracie #495, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1960s: Gracie #722, Mackenzie — — Gracie higher
- 1970s: Gracie #1187, Mackenzie #3221 — Gracie higher
- 1980s: Gracie #1285, Mackenzie #519 — Mackenzie higher
- 1990s: Gracie #1096, Mackenzie #114 — Mackenzie higher
- 2000s: Gracie #131, Mackenzie #53 — Mackenzie higher
- 2010s: Gracie #170, Mackenzie #81 — Mackenzie higher
- 2020s: Gracie #237, Mackenzie #163 — Mackenzie higher
Gracie stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Mackenzie has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Gracie | Mackenzie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #334 | — |
| 1890s | #289 | — |
| 1900s | #254 | — |
| 1910s | #283 | — |
| 1920s | #291 | — |
| 1930s | #298 | — |
| 1940s | #370 | — |
| 1950s | #495 | — |
| 1960s | #722 | — |
| 1970s | #1187 | #3221 |
| 1980s | #1285 | #519 |
| 1990s | #1096 | #114 |
| 2000s | #131 | #53 |
| 2010s | #170 | #81 |
| 2020s | #237 | #163 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Gracie
- Scotland#32
Mackenzie
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Gracie
grace, favor
From Latin gratia, by way of the English virtue name Grace. In Christian usage the word carries the further sense of divine grace freely given, which is why Grace was taken up as a given name in the first place.
gratia (Latin) → Grace → Gracie
How it traveled
Grace arrived as one of the abstract virtue names — Faith, Hope, Prudence, Mercy — adopted in English-speaking Protestant communities from the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries onward, drawn from Latin gratia and its theological sense of unearned favor. Gracie began as its household form and then quietly stopped depending on it: it has been recorded as a name in its own right in the United States for as long as such names have been counted.
Mackenzie
son of Coinneach — a Gaelic given name meaning "comely, handsome, fair"
Coinneach was long anglicized as Kenneth, which is why the two names are often mentioned together, though they reach English by different routes.
Coinneach → Mac Coinnich → MacKenȝie → Mackenzie
How it traveled
The Gaelic form is Mac Coinnich, "son of Coinneach", the name of one of the great Highland kindreds, centered on Kintail and later Ross-shire. In Middle Scots writing the sound at the middle of the word was spelled with a yogh, a letter that printers eventually replaced with z — which is how a name pronounced Mac-KEN-yee in Gaelic Scotland became Mackenzie on the page and then in the mouth.
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
Gracie
GRAY-see
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives the pronunciation away immediately, in English and in most other languages a reader is likely to meet.
- Grace — The parent name; often used as the formal or legal version by families who call the child Gracie every day, and equally common as a standalone name.
- Gigi — Informal, drawn from the initial sound; also used as a given name on its own.
- Gray — Informal clipping, more recent, and one that overlaps with the surname Gray.
- G — Initial-only, casual, mostly within families and among friends.
Mackenzie
muh-KEN-zee
Stress on the middle syllable. Some speakers say MAK-ken-zee with a fuller first vowel; both are ordinary in American English. The historical Scots Mac-KEN-yee is no longer used for the given name.
- Kenzie — By far the most common short form, and also given on its own as a full first name.
- Kenz — Informal, mostly spoken among friends and family rather than written.
- Mac — Used for bearers of either sex; also a standalone nickname for many Mac- and Mc- surnames.
- Mackie — Informal and affectionate, less common than Kenzie.
- Also Kenna.
Who has carried each name
Gracie
Gracie Abrams (b. 1999) — Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter, daughter of J.J. Abrams
Mackenzie
Mackenzie Foy (b. 2000) — Played young Murph in Interstellar
Mackenzie Davis (b. 1987) — Halt and Catch Fire and Terminator star
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 Gracie if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesGracie is 2 syllables to Mackenzie's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooGracie is on the national lists of Scotland
- a long American recordGracie was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Mackenzie
Choose Mackenzie if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMackenzie is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMackenzie runs 3 syllables, Gracie 2
- a newer arrivalMackenzie entered the US charts in 1973
- a name that feels very nowMackenzie is stepping back from its peak
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
Gracie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and built on a word every English speaker already knows — rarely needs repeating or clarifying.
- An unbroken presence in American records since counting began, which is unusual for a name that started life as a nickname.
- Comes with Grace ready-made as a longer, more formal option if a family wants both registers.
To consider
- It is a diminutive by origin, and some parents prefer to register Grace and use Gracie daily so that there is a longer form available later. Others use Gracie outright, which the records show has worked for well over a century.
- The -ie ending sits in a large group of currently popular names — Ellie, Sadie, Maisie, Rosie — so it may sound of a piece with her classmates' names even when no one shares the spelling.
- Occasional variants like Gracey and Graci exist, so she may hear the spelling questioned now and then, though Gracie is by a wide margin the standard one.
Mackenzie
Strengths
- A spelling that most English speakers can hear once and write correctly, since the surname is widely known.
- Kenzie is an established, ready-made short form, with Mac and Kenz behind it.
- Documented as a clan name in the Scottish Highlands for centuries, with a clear line back to Gaelic Coinneach.
To consider
- Three spellings circulate — Mackenzie, McKenzie and Makenzie — plus a capital-K variant, so a Mackenzie will spend a fair amount of life confirming which one is hers.
- The name is strongly represented among people now in their twenties and thirties, so it may read as belonging to that cohort rather than to a newborn — though it is stepping back from its peak, which tends to make a name feel less dated over time.
- As a surname, Mackenzie is still given to boys and used as a family name, so a girl may occasionally meet the assumption that it is a last name or a boy's.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Gracie
40%chance Gracie feels dated by 2040
Gracie sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
Mackenzie
77%chance Mackenzie feels dated by 2040
Mackenzie is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 2001). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Gracie and Mackenzie 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 Gracie and Mackenzie?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Gracie and Mackenzie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Gracie or Mackenzie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Gracie or Mackenzie?
- Gracie, in 2025: Gracie ranked #227 with 1,344 babies; Mackenzie ranked #228 with 1,343 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Gracie or Mackenzie?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Gracie moved down 20 places; Mackenzie moved down 109 places.
- Which is the older name, Gracie or Mackenzie?
- Gracie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Mackenzie entered the US charts in 1973. On the American record, Gracie is the older name.
- How many people are named Gracie and Mackenzie?
- About 66,500 people named Gracie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 140,000 people named Mackenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Gracies or Mackenzies in the classroom?
- Gracie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mackenzie 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
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