Head to head · Boys' names
Jake vs Pedro
#457 vs #455 in 2025
Pedro is a whisker ahead (#455 vs #457 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Pedro is holding its place on the charts, Jake is stepping back from its peak.
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: Jake and Pedro 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: Jake #139, Pedro #363 — Jake higher
- 1890s: Jake #171, Pedro #346 — Jake higher
- 1900s: Jake #188, Pedro #289 — Jake higher
- 1910s: Jake #258, Pedro #359 — Jake higher
- 1920s: Jake #334, Pedro #293 — Pedro higher
- 1930s: Jake #401, Pedro #293 — Pedro higher
- 1940s: Jake #465, Pedro #313 — Pedro higher
- 1950s: Jake #578, Pedro #303 — Pedro higher
- 1960s: Jake #655, Pedro #286 — Pedro higher
- 1970s: Jake #455, Pedro #230 — Pedro higher
- 1980s: Jake #238, Pedro #205 — Pedro higher
- 1990s: Jake #112, Pedro #196 — Jake higher
- 2000s: Jake #105, Pedro #228 — Jake higher
- 2010s: Jake #201, Pedro #354 — Jake higher
- 2020s: Jake #392, Pedro #423 — Jake higher
Jake stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Jake has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jake | Pedro |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #139 | #363 |
| 1890s | #171 | #346 |
| 1900s | #188 | #289 |
| 1910s | #258 | #359 |
| 1920s | #334 | #293 |
| 1930s | #401 | #293 |
| 1940s | #465 | #313 |
| 1950s | #578 | #303 |
| 1960s | #655 | #286 |
| 1970s | #455 | #230 |
| 1980s | #238 | #205 |
| 1990s | #112 | #196 |
| 2000s | #105 | #228 |
| 2010s | #201 | #354 |
| 2020s | #392 | #423 |
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
Jake
From Jacob — traditionally read as "heel-holder" or "supplanter"
Two serious readings compete. The book of Genesis links Ya'aqov to the Hebrew word for heel, from the account of Jacob born gripping his twin's heel, and from that comes the long-standing gloss "supplanter". Semitic scholars have also argued the name is a shortened theophoric form, something like "may God protect", with the heel story attached to it later. Both readings are old and both are still argued.
Ya'aqov → Iakob → Iacobus → Jacob → Jake
How it traveled
The root is Ya'aqov, one of the patriarchs of the Hebrew Bible. Greek translators wrote it Iakob, Latin turned that into Iacobus, and from Iacobus the medieval languages of Europe made Jacques, Giacomo, Jakob, Iago and English Jacob.
Pedro
Rock, stone
Greek Petros translates the Aramaic word for rock, kepha — the name given to the apostle Simon in the New Testament, where it appears in Greek as both Petros and Kephas.
Kepha → Petros → Petrus → Pedro
How it traveled
The name begins as a word rather than a name: Greek petros, "stone," used to render the Aramaic kepha in the Gospels, where the apostle Simon is renamed. Latin turned it into Petrus, and from Petrus the Romance languages each took their own road — Pierre in France, Pietro in Italy, Pere in Catalonia, and Pedro in both Spanish and Portuguese.
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
Jake
JAYK
One syllable, rhyming with lake. The spelling gives the sound away, so it survives phone calls and roll-call unharmed.
- Jakey — Affectionate lengthening used mostly within families and mostly in childhood.
- Jay — Initial-based short form, informal; also stands alone as a given name.
- J — Casual, spoken more than written, common among friends and teammates.
Pedro
PEH-droh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish and Portuguese the r is a light tap; English speakers usually say PED-roh or PAY-droh, and both are widely accepted.
- Pedrito — The standard Spanish diminutive, affectionate and used mostly within the family and in childhood.
- Pedrinho — The Portuguese and Brazilian diminutive, common for boys and in sports commentary.
- Perico — A long-established Spanish familiar form; also a common word for a parakeet, so it reads as playful.
- Pete — Used in English-speaking settings by Pedros who work across both languages; borrowed from Peter rather than from Pedro itself.
- Also Pedrão.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jake if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJake is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesJake is 1 syllable to Pedro's 2
- a name that feels very nowJake is stepping back from its peak
Choose Pedro if you want…
- a name with more sound in itPedro runs 2 syllables, Jake 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Pedrito, Pedrinho and Perico
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 66% for Jake
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
Jake
Strengths
- One syllable and phonetically transparent: almost no one mishears it or misspells it after hearing it once.
- Already a short form, so there is no pressure to shorten it further — the everyday name and the formal name are the same word.
- Recognized across the English-speaking world and connected to a name family found in nearly every European language.
To consider
- People will often assume it is short for Jacob and reach for the longer name in formal settings. Worth deciding early whether you mind, or whether you would rather register Jacob and use Jake.
- It is short and blunt, which works against very short surnames. Jake Bell and Jake Cross land like two clipped syllables; longer surnames give it more room.
- It is more strongly represented among young adults than among newborns right now, so a Jake in kindergarten will likely be the only one in the room while sharing the name with plenty of people in their twenties.
Pedro
Strengths
- Spelled the same in Spanish, Portuguese and English, with no variant spellings competing for it — rarely misspelled once heard.
- Maps directly onto Peter, Pierre, Pietro and Pere, so it connects a child to relatives with the same name in another language.
- An unbroken record from the medieval Iberian kingdoms to the present, with no gap that would date it to one generation.
To consider
- In English-only settings the vowels get flattened and the tapped r disappears, so the name your family says at home and the name a coach shouts across a field may not sound quite the same.
- The 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite put "Vote for Pedro" on T-shirts, and the phrase still surfaces. It has faded a good deal, but it is worth knowing about.
- Pedro has sometimes been used in American popular culture as a generic stand-in for a Spanish-speaking man, which can invite lazy jokes from people who deal in them.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Jake
66%chance Jake feels dated by 2040
Jake is coming down from a big peak (#96 in 2000). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Pedro
40%chance Pedro feels dated by 2040
Pedro 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 Jake and Pedro 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 Jake and Pedro?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Y2K names: the class of the 2000s
- Names that fell out of the top 100 this century
- Percy Jackson names on the charts
- Names that belong entirely to the 2000s
- all guides
Where Jake and Pedro each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jake or Pedro — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jake or Pedro?
- Pedro, in 2025: Pedro ranked #455 with 684 babies; Jake ranked #457 with 682 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jake or Pedro?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jake moved down 137 places; Pedro moved down 45 places.
- Which is the older name, Jake or Pedro?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Jake and Pedro?
- About 115,000 people named Jake are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 77,500 people named Pedro are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jakes or Pedros in the classroom?
- Jake will almost certainly be the only one in school. Pedro 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
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