Head to head · Boys' names
Idris vs Mac
#694 vs #695 in 2025
Idris is a whisker ahead (#694 vs #695 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Idris is climbing the charts fast, Mac is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Mac 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, Mac leads 4 measures of 6; Idris 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: Idris —, Mac #829 — Mac higher
- 1890s: Idris —, Mac #911 — Mac higher
- 1900s: Idris —, Mac #747 — Mac higher
- 1910s: Idris #3264, Mac #749 — Mac higher
- 1920s: Idris —, Mac #810 — Mac higher
- 1930s: Idris —, Mac #703 — Mac higher
- 1940s: Idris —, Mac #546 — Mac higher
- 1950s: Idris #3066, Mac #767 — Mac higher
- 1960s: Idris —, Mac #1055 — Mac higher
- 1970s: Idris #1713, Mac #1089 — Mac higher
- 1980s: Idris #2114, Mac #1696 — Mac higher
- 1990s: Idris #2396, Mac #2017 — Mac higher
- 2000s: Idris #2319, Mac #1849 — Mac higher
- 2010s: Idris #1200, Mac #1157 — Mac higher
- 2020s: Idris #779, Mac #710 — Mac higher
Mac stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Idris | Mac |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #829 |
| 1890s | — | #911 |
| 1900s | — | #747 |
| 1910s | #3264 | #749 |
| 1920s | — | #810 |
| 1930s | — | #703 |
| 1940s | — | #546 |
| 1950s | #3066 | #767 |
| 1960s | — | #1055 |
| 1970s | #1713 | #1089 |
| 1980s | #2114 | #1696 |
| 1990s | #2396 | #2017 |
| 2000s | #2319 | #1849 |
| 2010s | #1200 | #1157 |
| 2020s | #779 | #710 |
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
Idris
Welsh: 'ardent lord'; Arabic: a prophet's name of unsettled etymology
The Welsh Idris is generally read as a compound of 'iud' (lord) and a second element meaning ardent or impulsive — hence 'ardent lord'. The Arabic إدريس is a different name that happens to match in spelling; scholars have not settled its origin, with proposals connecting it to the root d-r-s ('to study, to instruct') and others to a rendering of a foreign name. Neither reading cancels the other; which one applies depends on which family carried it.
How it traveled
In Welsh tradition Idris Gawr — Idris the Giant — is the figure behind Cadair Idris, 'Idris's chair', the mountain in southern Snowdonia; the name is recorded in Wales long before it traveled anywhere else. Quite separately, Idris appears in the Qur'an as a prophet, and from there the name spread across the Arabic-speaking world, into Turkish as İdris, into Malay and Indonesian, and across West Africa in forms like Idrissa.
Mac
son
In Irish and Scottish Gaelic, mac is the word for "son", used to form patronymic surnames — MacDonald meaning son of Donald. As a standalone given name it also works as a clipped form of any Mac- or Mc- surname used as a first name, and of Malcolm and Mackenzie.
macc (Old Irish) → mac (Irish and Scottish Gaelic) → MacDonald, MacGregor and other Mac- surnames → Mac
How it traveled
The Goidelic word mac, spelled macc in Old Irish, has meant "son" for well over a thousand years, and medieval Irish and Scottish families used it to build surnames from a father's or ancestor's name. Scottish and Irish emigration carried those surnames across the Atlantic in great numbers through the nineteenth century, where the prefix itself became an informal way to address a man whose Mac- name you half-remembered.
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
Idris
ID-riss
English speakers stress the first syllable: ID-riss. In Arabic the stress falls on the second, closer to id-REES, and Turkish İdris is similar. Either is correct for the name — worth deciding early which one you will answer to, since both will be offered.
- Driss — Long-standing short form in Moroccan and French-Moroccan use; also given as a full name in its own right.
- Idy — Informal English-language clipping, used within families rather than on paperwork.
- Id — Very informal one-syllable trim; rare in writing.
Mac
MAK
One syllable, rhyming with back. It sounds the same in English, Irish and Scottish Gaelic, and travels without correction.
- Mack — The alternate spelling rather than a true nickname; used interchangeably in speech and standalone as a given name in its own right.
- Mackie — An affectionate extension used mostly within families and by younger children; also found as a surname.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Idris if you want…
- a name with more sound in itIdris runs 2 syllables, Mac 1
- a newer arrivalIdris entered the US charts in 1914
Choose Mac if you want…
- a name on the way upup 239 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMac is 1 syllable to Idris's 2
- a long American recordMac was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Idris
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, with no silent letters and no obvious rival spelling to correct constantly.
- Works in Welsh, Arabic, Turkish, Malay, Indonesian and West African settings without translation or adjustment.
- A documented record stretching back many centuries in two separate traditions — not a recent coinage.
To consider
- Because two unrelated names meet at this spelling, people will sometimes guess wrong about where your family is from. That is easy to answer, but expect the question.
- The stress varies by language — ID-riss or id-REES — so the name will be said both ways, including by teachers and doctors reading it cold.
- For many Americans right now the name calls one very famous British actor to mind. That gives it instant recognition, and also means the association arrives before your child does.
Mac
Strengths
- One syllable and one spelling: it is written the way it is heard, in almost any language that uses the Latin alphabet.
- Recognized instantly everywhere English is spoken, thanks to the Mac- and Mc- surnames it comes from.
- Works as a standalone name or as the short form of Malcolm, Mackenzie, McKinley or a family surname, so a longer legal name is easy to pair with it.
To consider
- Mac has been generic American slang for addressing a stranger — "listen, Mac" — and it also carries commercial echoes: Apple computers, the Big Mac, mac and cheese, a mackintosh raincoat. Most of these fade quickly in daily life, but they will come up.
- At three letters it offers no room to grow into something more formal. Parents who want a full-length option on a résumé often put Malcolm, Mackenzie or a family surname on the certificate and use Mac at home.
- Because Mackenzie has been widely given to girls, some people will assume Mac is short for that. US records list it as a boy's name, and a brief clarification usually settles it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Idris
49%chance Idris feels dated by 2040
Idris is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Mac
30%chance Mac feels dated by 2040
Mac is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Idris and Mac 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 Idris and Mac?
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
- Arabic names in American use
- Welsh names beyond Dylan
- Vintage names making a comeback
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- all guides
Where Idris and Mac each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Idris or Mac — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Idris or Mac?
- Idris, in 2025: Idris ranked #694 with 391 babies; Mac ranked #695 with 390 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Idris or Mac?
- Mac. Over the last five years Idris moved up 134 places; Mac moved up 239 places.
- Which is the older name, Idris or Mac?
- Idris entered the US charts in 1914; Mac was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Mac is the older name.
- How many people are named Idris and Mac?
- About 4,900 people named Idris are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,000 people named Mac are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Idriss or Macs in the classroom?
- Idris will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mac 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 Idris, Mac and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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