Head to head · Girls' names
Jimena vs Jordan
#578 vs #584 in 2025
Jimena is a whisker ahead (#578 vs #584 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Jimena is holding its place on the charts, Jordan 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
On the charts, Jordan leads 3 measures of 6; Jimena 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
- 1950s: Jimena —, Jordan #5415 — Jordan higher
- 1960s: Jimena #6564, Jordan #5213 — Jordan higher
- 1970s: Jimena #7995, Jordan #2847 — Jordan higher
- 1980s: Jimena #5835, Jordan #297 — Jordan higher
- 1990s: Jimena #3190, Jordan #52 — Jordan higher
- 2000s: Jimena #680, Jordan #82 — Jordan higher
- 2010s: Jimena #439, Jordan #278 — Jordan higher
- 2020s: Jimena #514, Jordan #497 — Jordan higher
Jordan stood higher in every recorded decade — 8 of 8.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Jimena | Jordan |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | — | #5415 |
| 1960s | #6564 | #5213 |
| 1970s | #7995 | #2847 |
| 1980s | #5835 | #297 |
| 1990s | #3190 | #52 |
| 2000s | #680 | #82 |
| 2010s | #439 | #278 |
| 2020s | #514 | #497 |
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
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.
Jordan
descending, flowing down — from the river Jordan
The Hebrew name Yarden comes from the root yarad, 'to go down' or 'descend', describing the river's fall from the northern highlands to the Dead Sea.
Yarden → Iordanes → Jordanus → Jourdain → Jordan
How it traveled
The name begins as a place: the Jordan, the river of the Hebrew Bible, whose name the Greek translators wrote as Iordanes and Latin writers as Iordanis. From the eleventh and twelfth centuries onward, Europeans returning from the Holy Land brought Jordan water back for baptisms, and children baptized with it were given the river's name — Jordanus in Latin records, Jourdain in Old French, where it also became the hero's name in a medieval French verse epic.
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
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.
Jordan
JOR-dan
Stress on the first syllable. The second syllable is unstressed and often reduced to 'dn' in fast American speech. It reads correctly on sight for almost any English speaker.
- Jordy — The most widespread short form, informal, used for both boys and girls.
- Jord — Clipped and casual, mostly among friends and siblings.
- Jordie — Same sound as Jordy with a softer spelling; used informally.
- J — Single-initial nickname, common in American school and sports settings.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Jimena if you want…
- a name with more sound in itJimena runs 3 syllables, Jordan 2
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 77% for Jordan
Choose Jordan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJordan is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesJordan is 2 syllables to Jimena's 3
- a name that feels very nowJordan is stepping back from its peak
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
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.
Jordan
Strengths
- One spelling that English speakers read and write correctly on first sight, with no pronunciation coaching required.
- Works in French, Italian, Spanish, German and Hebrew with only small adjustments — a rare thing in a name this short.
- Documented in European records since the era of the crusades, so it has outlasted many complete turns of fashion.
To consider
- It reads as unisex in the United States, with most Jordans being boys and a real minority girls. On paper — a class list, an application — the name alone will not tell anyone which, which some families like and others do not.
- Jordan is also a very common surname and a country, so pairing it with another surname-style last name can produce a full name that sounds like two last names.
- Variant spellings such as Jordyn and Jordon are in circulation, so expect occasional 'how do you spell it' even though your spelling is the standard one.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to 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.
Jordan
77%chance Jordan feels dated by 2040
Jordan is coming down from a big peak (#40 in 1997). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Jimena and Jordan 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 Jimena and Jordan?
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
- Names of the '80s and '90s, currently resting
- Classics hiding in plain sight
- Names that belong entirely to the 1990s
- all guides
Where Jimena and Jordan each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Jimena or Jordan — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Jimena or Jordan?
- Jimena, in 2025: Jimena ranked #578 with 515 babies; Jordan ranked #584 with 503 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Jimena or Jordan?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Jimena moved down 65 places; Jordan moved down 147 places.
- Which is the older name, Jimena or Jordan?
- Jimena entered the US charts in 1966; Jordan entered the US charts in 1950. On the American record, Jordan is the older name.
- How many people are named Jimena and Jordan?
- About 17,000 people named Jimena are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 134,000 people named Jordan are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Jimenas or Jordans in the classroom?
- Jimena will almost certainly be the only one in school. Jordan 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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