Head to head · Boys' names
Hamza vs Kaison
#541 vs #539 in 2025
Kaison is a whisker ahead (#539 vs #541 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Kaison is stepping back from its peak, Hamza is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Hamza 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: Hamza and Kaison 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
- 1970s: Hamza #5951, Kaison — — Hamza higher
- 1980s: Hamza #3598, Kaison #7905 — Hamza higher
- 1990s: Hamza #1447, Kaison #6825 — Hamza higher
- 2000s: Hamza #740, Kaison #3483 — Hamza higher
- 2010s: Hamza #654, Kaison #895 — Hamza higher
- 2020s: Hamza #589, Kaison #497 — Kaison higher
Hamza stood higher in 5 of 6 decades; Kaison took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hamza | Kaison |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | #5951 | — |
| 1980s | #3598 | #7905 |
| 1990s | #1447 | #6825 |
| 2000s | #740 | #3483 |
| 2010s | #654 | #895 |
| 2020s | #589 | #497 |
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
Hamza
Lion; strong, steadfast
Both glosses come from the same place: the Arabic root ḥ-m-z, which carries the sense of sharpness and strength, and the traditional reading of the name as "lion." The two are usually given side by side rather than in competition.
Ḥamza (Arabic) → Hamza → Hamzah
How it traveled
" From there it spread with Islam across an enormous stretch of the world, settling into Turkish, Persian, Kurdish, Bosnian, Urdu, Hausa and Malay with barely a change of shape. A Persian and Urdu romance cycle grew up around a legendary Amir Hamza, and the Mughal emperor Akbar had it illustrated in the sixteenth century as the Hamzanama, one of the great painted manuscripts.
Kaison
Not established
Kaison has no established meaning. It is a modern American formation, and what is documented is where and when it appears: on US birth records only, within living memory, alongside the closely related spellings Kason, Kayson and Cason. Any translation offered for it elsewhere is invention rather than etymology.
Our story of Kaison — where the record runs out
Some names come down a long road; Kaison was made here, and recently. You can hear the pieces it was made from — Kai, which stands on its own as a boy's name, and the -son ending that carried Mason, Jackson and Grayson through American nurseries.
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
Hamza
HAM-zuh
Also said HUM-zah, closer to the Arabic, where the opening h is a deeper pharyngeal sound and the final vowel is short. Either version is standard in American English; the stress stays on the first syllable.
- Hamz — An informal clipping among English-speaking friends and classmates; not used as a name on its own.
- Hamzi — Affectionate family form, common in Arabic-speaking households.
- Hammo — Informal hypocoristic heard in Levantine Arabic and in Turkish and Balkan usage.
Kaison
KAY-son
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with Mason and Jason. Because Kai on its own is usually said KYE, a few people reach for KYE-son at first sight; one correction generally settles it.
- Kai — The most common short form, and a well-established given name in its own right in the US and elsewhere.
- Kase — Informal, family-and-friends use; overlaps with the separate names Case and Casey.
- Sonny — Drawn from the ending rather than the beginning; affectionate and used mostly by older relatives.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hamza if you want…
- a name on the way upup 118 places on the charts in five years
Choose Kaison if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsKaison 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
Hamza
Strengths
- One dominant spelling that is already known to hundreds of millions of people across Arabic, Turkish, Urdu and Malay-speaking communities.
- Two syllables, first-syllable stress, no silent letters — it survives being said quickly and written on a form.
- An unbroken record stretching back to seventh-century Arabia, so it has never needed reviving.
To consider
- The -mz- cluster is unusual in English, so expect a first attempt at "HAM-za" from some people and a stumble from others. Most learn it after one correction.
- Hamzah is the standard spelling in Malaysia and Indonesia and turns up in the US too, so whichever you pick, the other will occasionally be assumed.
- There is no long-established English short form waiting in the wings — families tend to use the full name, with Hamz or Hamzi appearing informally.
Kaison
Strengths
- Reads correctly on first sight for American English speakers — the sound follows straight from the spelling.
- Rhymes with Mason, Jason and Grayson, so it lands as familiar even for someone hearing it for the first time.
- Comes with Kai built into it, a short form that already works as a full given name.
To consider
- Kason, Kayson, Cason and Kaeson all circulate, so this spelling will need saying aloud and confirming fairly often — on forms, at the pharmacy, in a new classroom.
- Individually rare, collectively not: a Kaison may well share a room with a Mason, a Jaxon and a Grayson, and the names can blur in a roll call even when no two are the same.
- The name's entire record is recent, so there are no older bearers to point to and no established figure attached to it. That also means it is unclaimed — its associations will be whatever this generation makes of them.
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 Hamza and Kaison 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 Hamza and Kaison?
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 Hamza and Kaison each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hamza or Kaison — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hamza or Kaison?
- Kaison, in 2025: Kaison ranked #539 with 557 babies; Hamza ranked #541 with 556 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hamza or Kaison?
- Hamza. Over the last five years Hamza moved up 118 places; Kaison moved down 85 places.
- Which is the older name, Hamza or Kaison?
- Hamza entered the US charts in 1977; Kaison entered the US charts in 1989. On the American record, Hamza is the older name.
- How many people are named Hamza and Kaison?
- About 10,500 people named Hamza are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 7,100 people named Kaison are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hamzas or Kaisons in the classroom?
- Hamza will almost certainly be the only one in school. Kaison 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 Hamza, Kaison and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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