Head to head · Girls' names
Ila vs Macy
#718 vs #718 in 2025
Ila and Macy share the same spot on the 2025 charts (#718). The records cannot split them; sound and story 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
The tape is even: Ila and Macy each lead 2 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
- 1880s: Ila #347, Macy #892 — Ila higher
- 1890s: Ila #278, Macy #1077 — Ila higher
- 1900s: Ila #253, Macy #1163 — Ila higher
- 1910s: Ila #270, Macy #1414 — Ila higher
- 1920s: Ila #281, Macy #1639 — Ila higher
- 1930s: Ila #347, Macy #1916 — Ila higher
- 1940s: Ila #587, Macy #2662 — Ila higher
- 1950s: Ila #987, Macy #3306 — Ila higher
- 1960s: Ila #1646, Macy #3945 — Ila higher
- 1970s: Ila #2709, Macy #3074 — Ila higher
- 1980s: Ila #3852, Macy #2158 — Macy higher
- 1990s: Ila #4485, Macy #402 — Macy higher
- 2000s: Ila #2528, Macy #251 — Macy higher
- 2010s: Ila #1315, Macy #426 — Macy higher
- 2020s: Ila #721, Macy #674 — Macy higher
Ila stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Macy has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ila | Macy |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #347 | #892 |
| 1890s | #278 | #1077 |
| 1900s | #253 | #1163 |
| 1910s | #270 | #1414 |
| 1920s | #281 | #1639 |
| 1930s | #347 | #1916 |
| 1940s | #587 | #2662 |
| 1950s | #987 | #3306 |
| 1960s | #1646 | #3945 |
| 1970s | #2709 | #3074 |
| 1980s | #3852 | #2158 |
| 1990s | #4485 | #402 |
| 2000s | #2528 | #251 |
| 2010s | #1315 | #426 |
| 2020s | #721 | #674 |
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
Ila
In Sanskrit, 'earth' — also 'speech' or 'flow'; the American name's route is a separate question
Two things share this spelling. Sanskrit Ilā is well documented, glossed as earth, speech, or flowing water, and borne by Ilā of the Puranas, child of Manu. The Ila that appears in nineteenth-century American records has no single settled source: it fits equally well as a clipped form of names ending in -ila (Camila, Priscilla, Ludmila), as a respelling of Ilah, and as the Hungarian pet form of Ilona. No one reading has won.
How it traveled
The oldest thread is Indian: Ilā appears in Sanskrit literature both as a common noun for the earth and as a named figure in the Puranas, and the name remains in use across South Asia today. The American Ila is a different arrival, showing up in the earliest US birth records without a documented parent name — its neighbors in those registers are Ida, Ola, Ella and Ilah, and it behaves like one of that family.
Macy
from a French place-name, the estate of Maccius
Macy is usually traced to Massy or Macey, French place-names from the Latin personal name Maccius. Other origins for the surname have been suggested.
Maccius → Massy → Macy
How it traveled
Rowland Hussey Macy went to sea on a Nantucket whaler as a young man, and the company says the red star of its logo came from a tattoo he got then. After several failed stores he opened one in New York that grew into the largest in the world.
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
Ila
EYE-la
EYE-la is the usual American reading. EE-la is standard for the Sanskrit name and is common wherever the South Asian Ilā is known. Both are correct for their own line, so whichever you pick, expect to say it twice on first meeting.
Macy
MAY-see
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
- Mace — A short form, though it is also a weapon and a spice.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ila if you want…
- a name on the way upup 146 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordIla was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Macy if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMacy is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalMacy entered the US charts in 1885
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
Ila
Strengths
- Three letters and two syllables: fast to write, fast to say, and it fits on any form without abbreviation.
- On US records continuously since national name-keeping began, so it is old rather than newly coined.
- In genuine use in more than one part of the world, including South Asia, where the spelling is long established.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, EYE-la and EE-la. Neither is wrong, but you will be correcting people for years, and so will she.
- It sits very close to Isla, Ella, Ida and Ayla in both sight and sound, and phone calls and roll calls will occasionally deliver one of those instead.
- In capitals or certain sans-serif fonts, ILA and Ila can read as a lowercase L. Worth checking how it looks in whatever font your paperwork uses.
Macy
Strengths
- It is bright, friendly and easy to spell.
- It is familiar without being among the most common names.
To consider
- Nearly everyone will think of the department store and its parade.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name everywhere.
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 Ila and Macy 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 Ila and Macy?
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 Ila and Macy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ila or Macy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ila or Macy?
- They tie in 2025: Ila ranked #718 with 390 babies; Macy ranked #718 with 390 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ila or Macy?
- Ila. Over the last five years Ila moved up 146 places; Macy moved down 97 places.
- Which is the older name, Ila or Macy?
- Ila was already in use when US records began in 1880; Macy entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Ila is the older name.
- How many people are named Ila and Macy?
- About 9,200 people named Ila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 31,500 people named Macy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ilas or Macys in the classroom?
- Ila will almost certainly be the only one in school. Macy 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 Ila, Macy and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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