Head to head · Girls' names
Hana vs Miranda
#657 vs #654 in 2025
Miranda is a whisker ahead (#654 vs #657 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Miranda is stepping back from its peak, Hana is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Hana 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
On the charts, Miranda leads 5 measures of 6; Hana 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
- 1880s: Hana —, Miranda #825 — Miranda higher
- 1890s: Hana —, Miranda #1254 — Miranda higher
- 1900s: Hana —, Miranda #1432 — Miranda higher
- 1910s: Hana #3118, Miranda #2678 — Miranda higher
- 1920s: Hana #4759, Miranda #3293 — Miranda higher
- 1930s: Hana —, Miranda #3543 — Miranda higher
- 1940s: Hana —, Miranda #2495 — Miranda higher
- 1950s: Hana —, Miranda #1251 — Miranda higher
- 1960s: Hana #5506, Miranda #855 — Miranda higher
- 1970s: Hana #3407, Miranda #374 — Miranda higher
- 1980s: Hana #1506, Miranda #128 — Miranda higher
- 1990s: Hana #917, Miranda #82 — Miranda higher
- 2000s: Hana #711, Miranda #146 — Miranda higher
- 2010s: Hana #817, Miranda #278 — Miranda higher
- 2020s: Hana #730, Miranda #587 — Miranda higher
Miranda stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hana | Miranda |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #825 |
| 1890s | — | #1254 |
| 1900s | — | #1432 |
| 1910s | #3118 | #2678 |
| 1920s | #4759 | #3293 |
| 1930s | — | #3543 |
| 1940s | — | #2495 |
| 1950s | — | #1251 |
| 1960s | #5506 | #855 |
| 1970s | #3407 | #374 |
| 1980s | #1506 | #128 |
| 1990s | #917 | #82 |
| 2000s | #711 | #146 |
| 2010s | #817 | #278 |
| 2020s | #730 | #587 |
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
Hana
Depends on which tradition it comes from: "flower" in Japanese, "bliss, contentment" in Arabic, "grace, favor" through Hebrew Ḥannah
These are not competing guesses about one origin — they are genuinely different names that met at the same spelling. Japanese Hana is written 花, "flower". Arabic Hanā' comes from a root meaning happiness or ease. In Czech, Slovak, Croatian, Bosnian and Slovene, Hana is the standard form of Hebrew Ḥannah, "grace" or "favor". Korean 하나 (hana) is also the word for "one" and is used as a given name. Which reading applies is a family matter, not a dictionary one.
Ḥannah → Anna → Hanna → Hana
How it traveled
The Central European Hana descends from Hebrew Ḥannah by way of Greek and Latin Anna, and has been the ordinary Czech and Croatian form of that name for centuries — the same name Anne and Hannah reach through other doors. The Japanese Hana is unrelated: a native word, written with the character for flower, long used as a personal name.
Miranda
admirable, worthy of admiration
From Latin mirandus/miranda, the form of mirari ('to wonder at, admire') meaning 'to be admired'. The same root sits inside English words like miracle and admire.
Latin mirari (to wonder at) → Latin miranda (to be admired) → Miranda
How it traveled
The name was coined for the stage. Shakespeare built it from Latin for the daughter of Prospero in The Tempest, first performed in the early seventeenth century, and it is one of the small handful of English names whose birth certificate is a piece of literature.
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
Hana
HAH-nah
HAH-nah is the pronunciation used in Japanese, Arabic and Slavic families alike, with both vowels open. Some English speakers default to HAN-uh, as in Hannah, so expect to state the preferred version early and often.
- Hanka — Standard informal diminutive in Czech, Slovak and Polish usage; not generally used in English-speaking settings.
- Hanička — Czech affectionate form, used within families rather than in public or formal contexts.
- Han — Casual English clipping among friends and siblings; also stands alone as an unrelated name elsewhere.
- Hani — Informal, used in some Arabic- and English-speaking families; also a masculine given name in Arabic on its own.
Miranda
mih-RAN-duh
Stress on the middle syllable in English, Spanish and Italian alike. Spelled the way it sounds, which spares it the lifetime of corrections some names carry.
- Mira — Informal short form; also stands alone as a given name in several languages.
- Randa — Informal, taken from the middle of the name; occasionally used as a given name in its own right.
- Mandy — Informal; more often attached to Amanda, and most common among people born in the mid-twentieth century.
- Randi — Informal; also an independent Scandinavian given name, and spelled Randy it reads as masculine in the US.
- Also Mimi.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 98 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesHana is 2 syllables to Miranda's 3
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 74% for Miranda
Choose Miranda if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMiranda is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMiranda runs 3 syllables, Hana 2
- a name that feels very nowMiranda 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
Hana
Strengths
- Two syllables, four letters, no silent letters — writable and sayable almost anywhere in the world.
- Genuinely at home in Japanese, Czech, Croatian, Arabic and Korean contexts, which is rare in a name this short.
- Sits beside the very familiar Hannah, so the shape is instantly recognizable to English speakers even where the spelling isn't.
To consider
- The Hannah problem is real and lifelong: forms, teachers and autocorrect will add letters. Most Hanas learn a quick, cheerful correction and get on with it.
- Pronunciation splits by community — HAH-nah in most of the world, HAN-uh among English speakers who read it as Hannah. Decide which you want and be consistent from the start.
- Already short, so it offers little room for English nicknames; the diminutives that exist belong mainly to Czech and Slovak usage.
Miranda
Strengths
- Spelled phonetically and recognized on sight in English, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and the Nordic languages — useful for a family that crosses languages.
- A documented origin you can point to: coined by Shakespeare for The Tempest, in unbroken use for four centuries.
- Several established short forms — Mira, Randa, Mandy — so the child has options without inventing any.
To consider
- In the United States the word Miranda also names the police warning that follows from the 1966 Supreme Court case — 'read him his Miranda rights.' Most people never connect it to a person, but the phrase is common enough that it will come up.
- Miranda is a very widespread Spanish and Portuguese surname, so check how it lands with yours; Miranda Miranda-type collisions are worth reading aloud first.
- The name is stepping back from a recent high point, which means most Mirandas around are adults rather than children. A young one will likely be the only one in her class, and will meet grown women who share it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Hana
40%chance Hana feels dated by 2040
Hana 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.
Miranda
74%chance Miranda feels dated by 2040
Miranda is coming down from a big peak (#57 in 1995). 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 Hana and Miranda 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 Hana and Miranda?
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
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Arabic names in American use
- Japanese names in American use
- African names with radiant meanings
- all guides
Where Hana and Miranda each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hana or Miranda — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hana or Miranda?
- Miranda, in 2025: Miranda ranked #654 with 437 babies; Hana ranked #657 with 436 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hana or Miranda?
- Hana. Over the last five years Hana moved up 98 places; Miranda moved down 112 places.
- Which is the older name, Hana or Miranda?
- Hana entered the US charts in 1912; Miranda entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Miranda is the older name.
- How many people are named Hana and Miranda?
- About 13,000 people named Hana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 112,000 people named Miranda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hanas or Mirandas in the classroom?
- Hana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Miranda 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 Hana, Miranda 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