Head to head · Girls' names
Juliet vs Lola
#274 vs #275 in 2025
Juliet is a whisker ahead (#274 vs #275 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Juliet is holding its place on the charts, Lola 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, Juliet leads 3 measures of 6; Lola 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
- 1880s: Juliet #672, Lola #124 — Lola higher
- 1890s: Juliet #822, Lola #113 — Lola higher
- 1900s: Juliet #787, Lola #108 — Lola higher
- 1910s: Juliet #750, Lola #136 — Lola higher
- 1920s: Juliet #822, Lola #159 — Lola higher
- 1930s: Juliet #940, Lola #179 — Lola higher
- 1940s: Juliet #882, Lola #253 — Lola higher
- 1950s: Juliet #894, Lola #375 — Lola higher
- 1960s: Juliet #702, Lola #599 — Lola higher
- 1970s: Juliet #727, Lola #870 — Juliet higher
- 1980s: Juliet #971, Lola #1545 — Juliet higher
- 1990s: Juliet #908, Lola #2553 — Juliet higher
- 2000s: Juliet #550, Lola #573 — Juliet higher
- 2010s: Juliet #249, Lola #231 — Lola higher
- 2020s: Juliet #291, Lola #261 — Lola higher
Lola stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Lola has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Juliet | Lola |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #672 | #124 |
| 1890s | #822 | #113 |
| 1900s | #787 | #108 |
| 1910s | #750 | #136 |
| 1920s | #822 | #159 |
| 1930s | #940 | #179 |
| 1940s | #882 | #253 |
| 1950s | #894 | #375 |
| 1960s | #702 | #599 |
| 1970s | #727 | #870 |
| 1980s | #971 | #1545 |
| 1990s | #908 | #2553 |
| 2000s | #550 | #573 |
| 2010s | #249 | #231 |
| 2020s | #291 | #261 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Juliet
Not charting outside the US.
Lola
- France#53
- England & Wales#87
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Juliet
From the Roman family name Julius, whose own meaning is not settled
The Julii of Rome traced their name to Iulus, son of Aeneas in Roman legend. A long-running alternative connects Julius to Latin iuvenis, 'youthful' — the gloss most name books print. Both are old proposals and neither has closed the question; what is certain is the Roman clan name itself.
Julius → Julia → Julie → Juliette → Juliet
How it traveled
The root is Julius, one of the great Roman family names, which gave Latin Julia and then French Julie and its diminutive Juliette. Italian storytellers of the sixteenth century — Luigi da Porto and later Matteo Bandello — told a tale of feuding Verona families with a heroine called Giulietta; a French version reached England as Arthur Brooke's poem 'The Tragicall Historye of Romeus and Juliet' in 1562.
Lola
short form of Dolores, "sorrows"
Dolores comes from the Spanish title María de los Dolores, Mary of the Sorrows, referring to the Virgin's Seven Sorrows. Lola is the household diminutive of that name; the sorrowful sense belongs to the devotional title, not to everyday use of Lola.
María de los Dolores → Dolores → Lola → Lolita
How it traveled
The name grew out of Spanish Catholic devotion: girls were named María de los Dolores for the Virgin's Sorrows, and Dolores was clipped in family speech to Lola, with Lolita as a further step down. By the nineteenth century Lola was circulating well beyond Spanish-speaking households, carried by stage performers and travelers into English, French and German use.
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
Juliet
JOO-lee-et
Stress on the first syllable in American English. British speakers often soften the ending to JOO-lee-uht. The stressed-last version joo-lee-ET follows the French Juliette and is heard occasionally.
- Jules — The most common short form; informal, and also used for men named Julian or Julius.
- Julie — A long-established given name in its own right, which makes it a full-strength alternative rather than only a pet form.
- Etta — Drawn from the end of the name; stands alone as a given name with its own history.
- Jet — A clipped, informal family nickname rather than anything used on paper.
- Also Juju.
Lola
LOH-luh
Stress on the first syllable. In Spanish and French both vowels are fuller: LOH-lah. Spelling almost never needs to be repeated.
- Lo — The commonest informal trim, used within families rather than on paper.
- Lolo — Playful doubling used mostly with young children; note it means grandfather in Tagalog.
- Lolita — The traditional Spanish diminutive of Lola; now carries the association with Nabokov's novel in English.
- Lols — A casual British-style trim, mostly among peers and in texting.
- Also Dolores.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Juliet if you want…
- a name on the way upup 32 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itJuliet runs 3 syllables, Lola 2
Choose Lola if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLola is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesLola is 2 syllables to Juliet's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLola is on the national lists of France and England & Wales
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
Juliet
Strengths
- Instantly recognizable spelling in English, thanks to four centuries of the play being read in schools — few people need it repeated.
- Travels intact: Juliette, Giulietta, Julieta and Julia are the same name in French, Italian, Spanish and Polish.
- Several established short forms — Jules, Julie, Etta — so the name can be formal or casual without effort.
To consider
- The Shakespeare link is permanent. Expect balcony jokes and 'wherefore art thou' from strangers, and expect the play's ending to be mentioned by someone who thinks they are the first.
- Juliet, Juliette and Julieta all circulate, so the spelling will need confirming on forms even though the name itself is well known.
- Spoken quickly, it sits close to Julie, Julia and Juliana, and gets swapped for them now and then.
Lola
Strengths
- Four letters, one obvious spelling, and it is read correctly on sight by English, Spanish and French speakers alike.
- An unbroken record in American use stretching back well over a century, so it reads as inherited rather than newly coined.
- Also charts in France and in England & Wales, which makes it travel well.
To consider
- In Tagalog, lola means grandmother — a warm word, but if your family or community is Filipino, expect that double meaning to come up often.
- The traditional diminutive Lolita now carries the association with Nabokov's novel in English, which is worth knowing before it arrives from someone else's mouth.
- It is already a nickname, so there is not much left to shorten. Some parents like the finality of that; others miss having a longer version to grow into.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Juliet
40%chance Juliet feels dated by 2040
Juliet 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.
Lola
25%chance Lola feels dated by 2040
Lola peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
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 Juliet and Lola 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 Juliet and Lola?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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
- Literary names for future bookworms
- Shakespeare names still stealing scenes
- Valentine names with love in them
- Names ending in -et
- all guides
Where Juliet and Lola each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Juliet or Lola — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Juliet or Lola?
- Juliet, in 2025: Juliet ranked #274 with 1,136 babies; Lola ranked #275 with 1,132 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Juliet or Lola?
- Juliet. Over the last five years Juliet moved up 32 places; Lola moved down 39 places.
- Which is the older name, Juliet or Lola?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Juliet and Lola?
- About 34,500 people named Juliet are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,500 people named Lola are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Juliets or Lolas in the classroom?
- Juliet will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lola will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Juliet, Lola and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap