Head to head · Girls' names
Jacqueline vs Jimena
#558 vs #578 in 2025
Jacqueline is a whisker ahead (#558 vs #578 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jacqueline is stepping back from its peak, Jimena is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Jimena has the edge.
Each name in full: Jacqueline · Jimena
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, Jacqueline leads 5 measures of 6; Jimena leads 0.
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
Jacqueline — stepping back from its peak. About 344,000 people named Jacqueline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Jimena — holding its place on the charts. About 17,000 people named Jimena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1890s: Jacqueline #1219, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1900s: Jacqueline #700, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1910s: Jacqueline #459, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1920s: Jacqueline #159, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1930s: Jacqueline #76, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1940s: Jacqueline #65, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1950s: Jacqueline #75, Jimena — — Jacqueline higher
- 1960s: Jacqueline #51, Jimena #6564 — Jacqueline higher
- 1970s: Jacqueline #83, Jimena #7995 — Jacqueline higher
- 1980s: Jacqueline #61, Jimena #5835 — Jacqueline higher
- 1990s: Jacqueline #74, Jimena #3190 — Jacqueline higher
- 2000s: Jacqueline #111, Jimena #680 — Jacqueline higher
- 2010s: Jacqueline #271, Jimena #439 — Jacqueline higher
- 2020s: Jacqueline #517, Jimena #514 — Jimena higher
Jacqueline stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Jimena took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jacqueline | Jimena |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1219 | — |
| 1900s | #700 | — |
| 1910s | #459 | — |
| 1920s | #159 | — |
| 1930s | #76 | — |
| 1940s | #65 | — |
| 1950s | #75 | — |
| 1960s | #51 | #6564 |
| 1970s | #83 | #7995 |
| 1980s | #61 | #5835 |
| 1990s | #74 | #3190 |
| 2000s | #111 | #680 |
| 2010s | #271 | #439 |
| 2020s | #517 | #514 |
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
Jacqueline
supplanter
The name descends through Latin and Greek from the Hebrew name behind Jacob and James, and the traditional reading about supplanting is a pun made inside the biblical text rather than an etymology. Modern scholarship treats it as such. The French feminine ending contributes affection rather than sense.
A Hebrew name behind both Jacob and James → Jacques in French, with a French feminine built on it → Almost unknown in English before the twentieth century → A sharp American peak at the start of the nineteen sixties
How it traveled
A young woman married a senator in nineteen fifty-three, and by the start of nineteen sixty-one she was the most photographed person in the world. The name climbed through the fifties on general fashion and then jumped sharply at the beginning of the sixties, peaking within a year of the inauguration and holding for most of the decade.
Jimena
Not established
Jimena is the feminine of the medieval name Ximeno, and the meaning of that name is genuinely disputed. One reading connects it to Basque seme, 'son'; another treats Ximeno as a Basque and Navarrese reshaping of Simeon, the Hebrew name usually read as 'he has heard'. Neither has won. What is not in doubt is the geography: the name belongs to medieval Navarre and Castile, where kings, bishops and noblewomen carried it in its many spellings.
Ximeno → Ximena → Jimena
How it traveled
The name begins in the Christian kingdoms of northern Spain, where Ximeno and its feminine Ximena appear repeatedly in medieval charters from Navarre, Aragón and Castile. Its most famous bearer, Jimena Díaz, was married to El Cid and appears as Doña Ximena in the Cantar de mio Cid, the great Castilian epic set down in writing around 1200.
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
Jacqueline
JAK-uh-lin
Three syllables in American English with the stress on the first. French says it with the stress at the back and a nasal final vowel, giving something closer to zhak-LEEN, which is a noticeably different name written with identical letters.
- Jackie — Unisex, universally understood, and for a generation a specific reference.
- Jacqui — The French-flavored spelling of the same clipping, and common in Britain.
- Lena — Cut from the back, which nobody expects and which produces a complete European name.
Jimena
hee-MEH-nah
The Spanish J is a soft breathy h, and the stress falls on the middle syllable. English speakers who have not seen the name often try 'juh-MEE-nah' on first reading; one correction usually settles it. The Ximena spelling is pronounced identically.
- Jime — The standard informal short form in Spanish-speaking families; pronounced HEE-meh, not like the English name Jim.
- Mena — Used affectionately, and readable to English speakers who stumble over the opening J.
- Jimenita — The Spanish diminutive, used within families and mostly with young children.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jacqueline if you want…
- a name most people already know#558 in 2025, 541 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsJacqueline is stepping back from its peak
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 40% for Jimena
Choose Jimena if you want…
- a name fewer children share#578 in 2025 — jimena will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name that feels very nowJimena is holding its place on the charts
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
Jacqueline
Strengths
- It is completely familiar, universally spellable and needs no explaining.
- Jackie and Jacqui are two very different registers from one certificate.
- It carries a genuine French history and a very well-documented American one.
To consider
- The association with one particular woman is total for anybody over about sixty.
- The English and French pronunciations differ considerably.
- The spelling is on the register for boys as well, in very small numbers.
Jimena
Strengths
- A documented medieval history, from Navarrese charters to the Cantar de mio Cid, and continuous use in Spanish ever since.
- Works in both Spanish and English mouths without being translated or altered — only the J needs explaining.
- Comes with ready-made short forms already in real use: Jime, Mena, Jimenita.
To consider
- Outside Spanish-speaking settings, the J will be misread as an English J for life. Most Jimenas develop a quick, unbothered way of saying it, but the correction never quite stops.
- Jimena and Ximena are the same name and both are in American use, so mail, forms and school lists will sometimes arrive with the other spelling. Worth deciding which one you want and holding to it.
- The name's American wave is recent, so nearly everyone carrying it here is young. That means no built-in generational association either way — a blank slate rather than a hand-me-down.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jacqueline
12%chance Jacqueline feels dated by 2040
Jacqueline has held the top-100 across 7 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Jimena
40%chance Jimena feels dated by 2040
Jimena 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.
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 Jacqueline and Jimena 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 Jacqueline and Jimena?
Put both to the vote.
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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
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Midcentury modern: tomorrow's comeback bets
- Names with a Q in them
- Names borrowed from aviators
- all guides
Where Jacqueline and Jimena each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jacqueline or Jimena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jacqueline or Jimena?
- Jacqueline, in 2025: Jacqueline ranked #558 with 541 babies; Jimena ranked #578 with 515 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jacqueline or Jimena?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jacqueline moved down 115 places; Jimena moved down 65 places.
- Which is the older name, Jacqueline or Jimena?
- Jacqueline entered the US charts in 1891; Jimena entered the US charts in 1966. On the American record, Jacqueline is the older name.
- How many people are named Jacqueline and Jimena?
- About 344,000 people named Jacqueline are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,000 people named Jimena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jacquelines or Jimenas in the classroom?
- Jacqueline will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jimena 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
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