Head to head · Boys' names
Hendrix vs Ibrahim
#354 vs #351 in 2025
Ibrahim is a whisker ahead (#351 vs #354 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Ibrahim is climbing the charts fast, Hendrix is stepping back from its peak.
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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, Ibrahim leads 4 measures of 6; Hendrix 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: Hendrix #936, Ibrahim — — Hendrix higher
- 1910s: Hendrix #2926, Ibrahim — — Hendrix higher
- 1920s: Hendrix #4089, Ibrahim — — Hendrix higher
- 1950s: Hendrix —, Ibrahim #3827 — Ibrahim higher
- 1960s: Hendrix —, Ibrahim #3414 — Ibrahim higher
- 1970s: Hendrix #4851, Ibrahim #1975 — Ibrahim higher
- 1980s: Hendrix #5955, Ibrahim #1168 — Ibrahim higher
- 1990s: Hendrix #6766, Ibrahim #852 — Ibrahim higher
- 2000s: Hendrix #3570, Ibrahim #614 — Ibrahim higher
- 2010s: Hendrix #596, Ibrahim #435 — Ibrahim higher
- 2020s: Hendrix #298, Ibrahim #406 — Hendrix higher
Ibrahim stood higher in 7 of 11 decades; Hendrix took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Hendrix | Ibrahim |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #936 | — |
| 1910s | #2926 | — |
| 1920s | #4089 | — |
| 1950s | — | #3827 |
| 1960s | — | #3414 |
| 1970s | #4851 | #1975 |
| 1980s | #5955 | #1168 |
| 1990s | #6766 | #852 |
| 2000s | #3570 | #614 |
| 2010s | #596 | #435 |
| 2020s | #298 | #406 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Hendrix
Not charting outside the US.
Ibrahim
- France#26
- England & Wales#77
- Canada#84
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Hendrix
son of Hendrik — from Germanic "home" plus "ruler"
Hendrik is the Dutch form of Germanic Heimirich, built from heim "home" and ric "ruler, power". The -x ending is a Dutch and Flemish way of writing the patronymic -ks, so Hendrix is literally "Hendrik's son".
Heimirich → Heinrich → Hendrik → Hendriks → Hendrix
How it traveled
The Germanic name Heimirich — "home ruler" — spread through medieval Europe as Heinrich in German lands and Hendrik in the Low Countries, and became Henry in English. Dutch and Flemish families then formed surnames from it, writing the patronymic -ks as -x, which gives Hendriks and Hendrix.
Ibrahim
father of many, father of nations
The book of Genesis itself glosses Abraham as "father of a multitude of nations", and that reading has traveled with the name for three thousand years. Linguists are less settled: the earlier form Abram reads clearly as "exalted father", while the -ham element in Abraham has no clean Hebrew source, so the biblical gloss may be interpretation rather than etymology. Ibrahim is the Arabic rendering of that same name, borrowed rather than built from Arabic roots.
Abram → Avraham → Abraham → Ibrāhīm → Ibrahim
How it traveled
The name begins in Hebrew as Avraham, the patriarch of Genesis, and spread outward with scripture: Abraam in the Greek Old Testament, Abraham in Latin and then in every European language, Ibrāhīm in Arabic. Islam gave the Arabic form enormous reach — Ibrahim is counted among the prophets, the Quran devotes a sura to him, and the name followed Arabic across North Africa, into Turkey and Persia, down the Swahili coast, through West Africa and out to Indonesia and Malaysia.
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
Hendrix
HEN-driks
Stress on the first syllable. English speakers read it correctly on sight, and the x is pronounced exactly as it looks.
- Hen — The most natural clipping in English speech; informal, family use.
- Rix — Takes the tail rather than the head; informal, and rare enough that it usually needs introducing.
- Hendy — Surname-style, the way sports teams shorten last names; used among friends more than at home.
Ibrahim
ib-rah-HEEM
Arabic and Turkish speakers place the weight on the final syllable; many American speakers say IB-ra-heem with the stress up front. Both are heard, and both are correct in their own setting.
- Ibi — Informal, used within families and among friends.
- Ibby — Informal English-language short form, common among school-age boys and their friends.
- Brahim — A clipped form in North Africa that also stands on its own as a registered given name.
- Bram — Short form of the Abraham line, standard as an independent name in Dutch.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Hendrix if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsHendrix is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesHendrix is 2 syllables to Ibrahim's 3
Choose Ibrahim if you want…
- a name on the way upup 90 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itIbrahim runs 3 syllables, Hendrix 2
- a name that charts abroad tooIbrahim is on the national lists of France, England & Wales and Canada
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
Hendrix
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for English speakers, with no realistic pronunciation dispute.
- The -x spelling is already widely recognized, so it rarely needs to be defended as an invented form.
- Belongs to the Henry family, one of the longest continuously used name lines in Europe.
To consider
- The link to Jimi Hendrix is direct and permanent. Many people will hear it as a tribute and say so, which is charming to some families and tiresome to others.
- Hendricks is a common surname spelling, so expect the -cks version to be written by mistake fairly often.
- Short forms are thin on the ground — none of them is standard, so the full name is likely to be what he is called day to day.
Ibrahim
Strengths
- One spelling, recognized across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Bosnian, Swahili, Hausa, Indonesian and Malay — a rare thing for a name of this length.
- Part of a name line documented for roughly three thousand years, with no gap in use.
- Also on the birth charts in France, England and Wales, and Canada, so it travels without translation.
To consider
- Spelling will need repeating. Ibraheem, Ibrahem and Ebrahim are all real, and people who have met one of those may default to it.
- Stress placement differs between English and Arabic habits, so he may hear his own name pronounced two ways in a single day — at home one way, at school another.
- In most American schools he will be the only Ibrahim in the building. That means no last-initial problem, and also that he will be the one introducing the name.
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 Hendrix and Ibrahim 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
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Names with an X in them
- Musical names, from Aria to Lennon
- Rock and roll names
- Names with an edge
- all guides
Where Hendrix and Ibrahim each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Hendrix or Ibrahim — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Hendrix or Ibrahim?
- Ibrahim, in 2025: Ibrahim ranked #351 with 939 babies; Hendrix ranked #354 with 933 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Hendrix or Ibrahim?
- Ibrahim. Over the last five years Hendrix moved down 71 places; Ibrahim moved up 90 places.
- Which is the older name, Hendrix or Ibrahim?
- Hendrix entered the US charts in 1885; Ibrahim entered the US charts in 1954. On the American record, Hendrix is the older name.
- How many people are named Hendrix and Ibrahim?
- About 13,500 people named Hendrix are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,500 people named Ibrahim are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Hendrixs or Ibrahims in the classroom?
- Hendrix will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ibrahim 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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