Head to head · Girls' names
Julianna vs Murphy
#398 vs #397 in 2025
Murphy is a whisker ahead (#397 vs #398 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Murphy is climbing the charts fast, Julianna 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, Murphy leads 4 measures of 6; Julianna 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
- 1890s: Julianna —, Murphy #1700 — Murphy higher
- 1900s: Julianna #1703, Murphy #1792 — Julianna higher
- 1910s: Julianna #1350, Murphy #3725 — Julianna higher
- 1920s: Julianna #1918, Murphy #3379 — Julianna higher
- 1930s: Julianna #1663, Murphy #4082 — Julianna higher
- 1940s: Julianna #1251, Murphy #4691 — Julianna higher
- 1950s: Julianna #1212, Murphy — — Julianna higher
- 1960s: Julianna #1040, Murphy — — Julianna higher
- 1970s: Julianna #1036, Murphy — — Julianna higher
- 1980s: Julianna #765, Murphy #6651 — Julianna higher
- 1990s: Julianna #444, Murphy #3490 — Julianna higher
- 2000s: Julianna #198, Murphy #4980 — Julianna higher
- 2010s: Julianna #201, Murphy #3169 — Julianna higher
- 2020s: Julianna #329, Murphy #625 — Julianna higher
Julianna stood higher in 13 of 14 decades; Julianna has held the lead since the 1900s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Julianna | Murphy |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1700 |
| 1900s | #1703 | #1792 |
| 1910s | #1350 | #3725 |
| 1920s | #1918 | #3379 |
| 1930s | #1663 | #4082 |
| 1940s | #1251 | #4691 |
| 1950s | #1212 | — |
| 1960s | #1040 | — |
| 1970s | #1036 | — |
| 1980s | #765 | #6651 |
| 1990s | #444 | #3490 |
| 2000s | #198 | #4980 |
| 2010s | #201 | #3169 |
| 2020s | #329 | #625 |
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
Julianna
of the Julii — belonging to Julius
Julianna is a feminine form of the Latin Iulianus, itself formed from the old Roman family name Iulius. What Iulius meant before it was a family name is not settled: it has been linked both to the god Jupiter and to a Greek word for soft, downy hair. The step from Julius to Julianna, though, is clear.
Iulius → Iulianus → Iuliana → Juliana → Julianna
How it traveled
The Julii were one of Rome's old patrician families, and from their name Latin built the adjective Iulianus, "of the Julii", with the feminine Iuliana. Early Christian martyrs carried Iuliana, which kept the name alive through the Middle Ages in Latin and then in nearly every European vernacular: Giuliana in Italy, Juliana in Spain and the Netherlands, Julienne in France, Julianna in Hungary and Poland.
Murphy
sea-warrior — from Old Irish muir (sea) and cath (battle)
Murphy is the anglicized form of Ó Murchadha and Mac Murchadha, 'descendant/son of Murchadh'. Murchadh itself is the personal name meaning sea-warrior.
Murchadh → Ó Murchadha → Murphy
How it traveled
The root is Murchadh, an Old Irish personal name compounded from muir, 'sea', and cath, 'battle'. Families descended from men of that name became Ó Murchadha and Mac Murchadha, and when Gaelic names were pushed into English spelling the whole cluster flattened into Murphy — which is why it ended up the most common surname in Ireland rather than a rare one.
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
Julianna
joo-lee-AH-nuh
Also commonly said joo-lee-AN-uh, with the third syllable rhyming with "can". Both are accepted in the US, so expect to state your preference now and then.
- Julie — The most common short form in English, and long established as a standalone given name in its own right.
- Jules — Informal, used within families and among friends; also used for boys named Julian or Julius.
- Anna — Drawn from the second half of the name; stands alone as a full given name across most of Europe.
- Annie — Informal, from the same second half; independently popular as a given name.
- Also Juli, Juju.
Murphy
MUR-fee
Stress on the first syllable. The spelling gives no trouble on either side of the Atlantic, and the -ph- is one of the few English spellings nobody hesitates over.
- Murph — The standard short form, long used informally for people with Murphy as a surname and carried straight over to the given name; casual, used by friends and teammates.
- Murf — Same short form, phonetic spelling; less common in writing.
- Mur — Occasional clipped family nickname; rarely written down.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Julianna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsJulianna is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itJulianna runs 4 syllables, Murphy 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Julie, Jules and Anna
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 60% for Murphy
Choose Murphy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 578 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMurphy is 2 syllables to Julianna's 4
- a name that feels very nowMurphy is climbing the charts fast
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
Julianna
Strengths
- Recognized in Spanish, Italian, Polish, Hungarian and Dutch in closely related forms, so it travels without needing translation.
- An unbroken written record stretching back to Roman Latin, with no gap where the name fell out of use.
- Several long-established short forms — Julie, Anna, Annie — each of which is a complete name on its own.
To consider
- Juliana and Julianna are both in steady use, and Julianne exists too. You will be spelling it aloud fairly often, and forms will sometimes come back with one n.
- The pronunciation genuinely splits between -AH-nuh and -AN-uh, so people will guess wrong roughly half the time until corrected.
- It sits in a crowded family — Julia, Julie, Juliet, Juliana — and may get casually swapped with a cousin or classmate carrying one of those.
Murphy
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to nearly everyone in the US, thanks to the surname — no repeating, no correcting.
- Murph is a ready-made short form with a long history of informal use.
- Works as a family-name choice: it honors Irish ancestry directly rather than by association.
To consider
- It is a surname first, and a very common one. Expect forms, rosters and databases to occasionally file it in the wrong column, and expect some people to hear it as a last name before they hear it as a first.
- Murphy's Law is a fixed phrase in English, and a Murphy will hear the joke more than once. It is affectionate rather than unkind, but it will come.
- Most American Murphys born now are girls, so a boy carrying it may be assumed female on paper — even though the underlying Irish name was a man's. Worth knowing rather than worrying about.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Julianna
40%chance Julianna feels dated by 2040
Julianna 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.
Murphy
60%chance Murphy feels dated by 2040
Murphy 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.
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 Julianna and Murphy 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 Julianna and Murphy?
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
- Four-syllable names that carry
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Eastern European names in American use
- Names ending in -na
- all guides
Where Julianna and Murphy each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Julianna or Murphy — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Julianna or Murphy?
- Murphy, in 2025: Murphy ranked #397 with 783 babies; Julianna ranked #398 with 779 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Julianna or Murphy?
- Murphy. Over the last five years Julianna moved down 128 places; Murphy moved up 578 places.
- Which is the older name, Julianna or Murphy?
- Julianna entered the US charts in 1900; Murphy entered the US charts in 1898. On the American record, Murphy is the older name.
- How many people are named Julianna and Murphy?
- About 51,000 people named Julianna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,600 people named Murphy are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Juliannas or Murphys in the classroom?
- Julianna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Murphy 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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