Head to head · Girls' names
Hanna vs Scarlet
#511 vs #509 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Scarlet is a whisker ahead (#509 vs #511 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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, Hanna leads 4 measures of 6; Scarlet 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: Hanna #423, Scarlet — — Hanna higher
- 1890s: Hanna #542, Scarlet — — Hanna higher
- 1900s: Hanna #798, Scarlet — — Hanna higher
- 1910s: Hanna #1060, Scarlet — — Hanna higher
- 1920s: Hanna #1669, Scarlet — — Hanna higher
- 1930s: Hanna #2008, Scarlet #3782 — Hanna higher
- 1940s: Hanna #2322, Scarlet #1944 — Scarlet higher
- 1950s: Hanna #2700, Scarlet #1879 — Scarlet higher
- 1960s: Hanna #2751, Scarlet #1465 — Scarlet higher
- 1970s: Hanna #2073, Scarlet #1782 — Scarlet higher
- 1980s: Hanna #740, Scarlet #2160 — Hanna higher
- 1990s: Hanna #238, Scarlet #2052 — Hanna higher
- 2000s: Hanna #263, Scarlet #1107 — Hanna higher
- 2010s: Hanna #488, Scarlet #388 — Scarlet higher
- 2020s: Hanna #528, Scarlet #465 — Scarlet higher
Hanna stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Scarlet has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hanna | Scarlet |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #423 | — |
| 1890s | #542 | — |
| 1900s | #798 | — |
| 1910s | #1060 | — |
| 1920s | #1669 | — |
| 1930s | #2008 | #3782 |
| 1940s | #2322 | #1944 |
| 1950s | #2700 | #1879 |
| 1960s | #2751 | #1465 |
| 1970s | #2073 | #1782 |
| 1980s | #740 | #2160 |
| 1990s | #238 | #2052 |
| 2000s | #263 | #1107 |
| 2010s | #488 | #388 |
| 2020s | #528 | #465 |
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
Hanna
grace, favor
From Hebrew ḥannāh, built on a root meaning to show favor or be gracious.
Ḥannāh → Anna → Hannah → Hanna
How it traveled
The name belongs to the mother of Samuel in the Hebrew Bible, whose story of long-awaited childbirth is told in the first book of Samuel. The Greek translators of the Hebrew scriptures wrote it without its initial breath as Anna, and that shorter form spread across the Roman and then the Christian world, giving Anne, Ana and Annie.
Scarlet
the bright red color; originally a rich cloth
The word first named a fine, expensive fabric rather than a shade — the cloth could be other colors — and narrowed to the red itself over the medieval period. Both readings are part of the same documented history, not competing guesses.
scarlatum (medieval Latin) → escarlate (Old French) → scarlet (Middle English) → Scarlett (English surname) → Scarlet
How it traveled
The word came into medieval Latin as scarlatum and Old French as escarlate, naming an expensive imported cloth; English had it as scarlet by the Middle Ages, by then chiefly for the color. It also became a surname for the people who made, dyed or sold that cloth, which is the road the double-t Scarlett traveled.
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
Hanna
HAN-uh
Two syllables, stress on the first, identical in sound to Hannah in American English. In German and the Nordic languages the first vowel is broader and the ending crisper: HAH-na.
- Han — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings; not used in writing.
- Hannie — Affectionate family form, familiar in English and Dutch usage.
- Hanni — The standard affectionate form in German-speaking countries.
- Hania — Polish diminutive, used warmly and also standing on its own.
- Also Nan.
Scarlet
SKAR-let
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly like the color word. Almost no American reader hesitates over it, and there is no second accepted pronunciation to correct.
- Lettie — Informal short form taken from the ending; also stands alone as an older given name in its own right.
- Letty — Same short form, spelled the shorter way; used within families more than in writing.
- Scar — The obvious clipping, common among schoolmates; some families steer away from it because it is also an English word.
- Scarly — Affectionate household form, rarely written down.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hanna if you want…
- a name on the way upup 17 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordHanna was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Scarlet if you want…
- a name holding steadyScarlet is holding its place on the charts
- a newer arrivalScarlet entered the US charts in 1939
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
Hanna
Strengths
- Sounds exactly like Hannah, so no one ever has to ask how to say it.
- Two syllables spelled the way they sound — easy for a child to write early.
- The standard spelling across German, Nordic, Finnish, Hungarian and Polish usage, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- The H-less ending will be corrected for life. Hannah is the far more common American spelling, so expect forms, teachers and autocorrect to add the final H, and expect to spell it aloud often.
- It sits inside a crowded sound-alike family — Hannah, Hana, Anna, Ana, Anne. Recognition is instant; precision takes a beat.
- Hanna is also a men's name among Arabic-speaking Christian families, and a familiar English and Irish surname. Neither causes real confusion in US usage, but both are worth knowing about.
Scarlet
Strengths
- Everyone already knows how to say it — it is an English word before it is a name, so it survives phone calls and substitute teachers intact.
- Short, stress-first, and easy to say alongside most surnames.
- Has real short forms available — Lettie and Letty — without depending on them.
To consider
- The double-t Scarlett is the more widely recognized spelling, thanks to Scarlett O'Hara and to Scarlett Johansson. Choosing the single-t version means a lifetime of gentle corrections — not hard ones, but frequent.
- Scarlett O'Hara comes attached to Gone with the Wind, a book and film long criticized for how they portray slavery and the Confederacy. Most people won't make the connection; some will, and it's better to have thought about it first.
- English keeps a few old phrases in circulation — the biblical "scarlet woman", and scarlet fever. Neither is much heard now, but the word carries 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 Hanna and Scarlet 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 Hanna and Scarlet?
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 Hanna and Scarlet — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hanna or Scarlet — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hanna or Scarlet?
- Scarlet, in 2025: Scarlet ranked #509 with 581 babies; Hanna ranked #511 with 580 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hanna or Scarlet?
- Hanna. Over the last five years Hanna moved up 17 places; Scarlet moved down 63 places.
- Which is the older name, Hanna or Scarlet?
- Hanna was already in use when US records began in 1880; Scarlet entered the US charts in 1939. On the American record, Hanna is the older name.
- How many people are named Hanna and Scarlet?
- About 40,000 people named Hanna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,500 people named Scarlet are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hannas or Scarlets in the classroom?
- Hanna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Scarlet 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 Hanna, Scarlet and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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