Head to head · Girls' names
Hadassah vs Halle
#569 vs #595 in 2025
Hadassah is ahead (#569 vs #595 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Hadassah is holding its place on the charts, Halle is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Halle has the edge.
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
The tape is even: Hadassah and Halle each lead 3 measures of 6.
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
- 1910s: Hadassah #3797, Halle — — Hadassah higher
- 1920s: Hadassah #4592, Halle — — Hadassah higher
- 1930s: Hadassah #3956, Halle — — Hadassah higher
- 1940s: Hadassah #4229, Halle #5243 — Hadassah higher
- 1950s: Hadassah #5020, Halle #5058 — Hadassah higher
- 1960s: Hadassah #6396, Halle #4808 — Halle higher
- 1970s: Hadassah #5084, Halle #4432 — Halle higher
- 1980s: Hadassah #3945, Halle #4160 — Hadassah higher
- 1990s: Hadassah #2675, Halle #1454 — Halle higher
- 2000s: Hadassah #1549, Halle #440 — Halle higher
- 2010s: Hadassah #739, Halle #783 — Hadassah higher
- 2020s: Hadassah #613, Halle #692 — Hadassah higher
Hadassah stood higher in 8 of 12 decades; Hadassah has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hadassah | Halle |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #3797 | — |
| 1920s | #4592 | — |
| 1930s | #3956 | — |
| 1940s | #4229 | #5243 |
| 1950s | #5020 | #5058 |
| 1960s | #6396 | #4808 |
| 1970s | #5084 | #4432 |
| 1980s | #3945 | #4160 |
| 1990s | #2675 | #1454 |
| 2000s | #1549 | #440 |
| 2010s | #739 | #783 |
| 2020s | #613 | #692 |
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
Hadassah
Myrtle (the tree)
From Hebrew hadas, the myrtle — one of the four species carried at Sukkot.
hadas (Hebrew, myrtle) → Hadassah → Edissa (Latin Vulgate)
How it traveled
The name appears once in the Hebrew Bible, in Esther 2:7, where the heroine is introduced by her Hebrew name Hadassah before the Persian court name Esther takes over the story. Latin tradition carried the verse forward as Edissa in the Vulgate, while Hebrew and Yiddish speakers kept Hadassah in living use as a given name.
Halle
Not established
Three serious readings sit behind the same spelling. As a shortening of Hallie, it descends from Harriet — the English form of Henriette, from a Germanic name meaning roughly "home ruler." As a Norwegian and Icelandic name (borne by men), Halle goes back to Old Norse hallr, "stone, boulder." And Halle is a German city whose name is linked to its ancient salt works. Which road an individual Halle came down usually depends on the family.
Heimirich → Henri → Harriet → Hallie → Halle
How it traveled
The English-language Halle is most often a trimmed Hallie, the nineteenth-century pet form of Harriet that stood on its own in American records long before the shorter spelling did. Separately, Halle has been a men's name in Norway for centuries, from the Old Norse element meaning stone, and Halle is a real German city, old enough that its salt trade named it.
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
Hadassah
huh-DAH-suh
Hebrew speakers place a fuller stress on the last syllable: hah-dah-SAH. American English usually settles on the middle syllable, and some families say HAD-uh-suh. All three are in genuine use, so it is worth deciding early which one you will correct people toward.
- Dassi — An informal short form used in Orthodox Jewish communities.
- Hadas — A standalone given name in Israel as well as a short form of the longer name.
- Dassah — Informal, clipped from the second half of the name.
- Hattie — An English-sounding nickname borrowed from the sound of the first syllables; also a given name in its own right.
Halle
HAL-ee
Rhymes with "alley," the way Halle Berry says it. Two other pronunciations circulate: HAH-lee, and the German city's HAH-luh. Expect to correct people occasionally, and expect the correction to stick after one telling.
- Hallie — The longer sister spelling, used as an affectionate form and also standing alone as a given name.
- Hal — Informal and unisex; independently a short form of Henry and Harold, so it carries its own long history.
- Hals — Playground and teammate shortening, informal only.
- H — Initial-only nickname among friends and siblings; not used in writing.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hadassah if you want…
- a name most people already know#569 in 2025, 529 babies that year
- a name holding steadyHadassah is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itHadassah runs 3 syllables, Halle 1
Choose Halle if you want…
- a name fewer children share#595 in 2025 — halle will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 267 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesHalle is 1 syllable to Hadassah's 3
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
Hadassah
Strengths
- A settled, documented meaning — the myrtle — with a single clear biblical source in Esther 2:7, so the answer never changes.
- Recognizable in Hebrew, English, Spanish and French with only small spelling shifts.
- Several real short forms already in use: Dassi, Hadas, Dassah.
To consider
- The spelling will need repeating: two s's, an h at each end, and no obvious phonetic cue for the final -ah. Most people get there on the second try.
- For many American adults the first association is the women's Zionist organization and the Jerusalem hospital that bears the name, rather than a child.
- Stress placement varies between Hebrew and English usage, so she will hear her name said a few different ways before she learns which correction is worth making.
Halle
Strengths
- Short, two syllables, no silent letters — spellable by a child on the first day of kindergarten.
- Comes with ready-made short forms: Hal, and the longer Hallie if a fuller version is ever wanted.
- A widely known bearer means most Americans have heard the name said aloud and will not stumble over it.
To consider
- The Hallie/Hailey/Haley cluster is crowded, and Halle will be misspelled into one of them often enough that spelling it out becomes routine.
- Pronunciation is not fully settled: some readers will try HAH-lee or the German HAH-luh before they hear it from you.
- One famous bearer dominates the association for most American adults. That may fade with the next generation, but for now the name arrives with her attached.
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 Hadassah and Halle 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 Hadassah and Halle?
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 these names appear on
Where Hadassah and Halle each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hadassah or Halle — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hadassah or Halle?
- Hadassah, in 2025: Hadassah ranked #569 with 529 babies; Halle ranked #595 with 491 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hadassah or Halle?
- Halle. Over the last five years Hadassah moved up 100 places; Halle moved up 267 places.
- Which is the older name, Hadassah or Halle?
- Hadassah entered the US charts in 1910; Halle entered the US charts in 1948. On the American record, Hadassah is the older name.
- How many people are named Hadassah and Halle?
- About 9,200 people named Hadassah are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 16,500 people named Halle are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hadassahs or Halles in the classroom?
- Hadassah will almost certainly be the only one in school. Halle 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 Hadassah, Halle and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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