Head to head · Girls' names
Leia vs Lilith
#297 vs #277 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Lilith is a whisker ahead (#277 vs #297 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
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, Lilith leads 4 measures of 6; Leia 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
- 1910s: Leia —, Lilith #3826 — Lilith higher
- 1920s: Leia —, Lilith #3817 — Lilith higher
- 1930s: Leia —, Lilith #3055 — Lilith higher
- 1940s: Leia #4235, Lilith #4622 — Leia higher
- 1950s: Leia #5421, Lilith — — Leia higher
- 1960s: Leia #2967, Lilith #5745 — Leia higher
- 1970s: Leia #2622, Lilith #7201 — Leia higher
- 1980s: Leia #1429, Lilith #10668 — Leia higher
- 1990s: Leia #1950, Lilith #6329 — Leia higher
- 2000s: Leia #1179, Lilith #1588 — Leia higher
- 2010s: Leia #500, Lilith #672 — Leia higher
- 2020s: Leia #274, Lilith #270 — Lilith higher
Leia stood higher in 8 of 12 decades; Lilith took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Leia | Lilith |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #3826 |
| 1920s | — | #3817 |
| 1930s | — | #3055 |
| 1940s | #4235 | #4622 |
| 1950s | #5421 | — |
| 1960s | #2967 | #5745 |
| 1970s | #2622 | #7201 |
| 1980s | #1429 | #10668 |
| 1990s | #1950 | #6329 |
| 2000s | #1179 | #1588 |
| 2010s | #500 | #672 |
| 2020s | #274 | #270 |
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
Leia
"weary" through Hebrew Leah; "garland, wreath" in Hawaiian
As a form of Leah, the Hebrew name in Genesis is traditionally read as "weary," with some scholars connecting it instead to an Akkadian word for cow or wild cow. Quite separately, Hawaiian leia relates to lei, a garland or wreath. Which reading applies depends entirely on which tradition a family is drawing from, and both are genuine.
Le'ah (Hebrew) → Leia (Greek, Septuagint) → Lia → Léia (Portuguese) → Leia
How it traveled
The oldest thread runs through the Hebrew name Le'ah, borne in Genesis by Jacob's first wife; when the Hebrew scriptures were translated into Greek, it was written Λεία, and Latin and the Romance languages carried it on as Lia, with Léia established in Brazilian Portuguese. A wholly separate thread is Hawaiian, where leia belongs to the family of words around lei, the garland.
Lilith
linked to "night" or to "wind, air spirit"
The traditional reading ties Lilith to Hebrew *layil*, "night" — the reading behind translations like "night creature" in Isaiah 34:14. Semitic scholars more often trace it to Akkadian *lilītu*, a class of spirit, and beyond that to a Sumerian word for wind or air. Both readings are seriously held; the "night" connection may well be an ancient folk etymology that stuck.
lilītu (Akkadian) → Lilit (Hebrew) → Lilith (Greek and Latin biblical texts) → Lilith (English)
How it traveled
The oldest layer is Mesopotamian: *lilītu* and related figures appear in Akkadian and Sumerian incantations as spirits of the air, invoked to be warded off. The Hebrew *lilit* surfaces once in the Book of Isaiah, in a list of creatures inhabiting a ruined place, and again in the Babylonian Talmud.
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
Leia
LAY-ah
LAY-ah is the usual American pronunciation, following the film. LEE-ah is also heard, especially from people reading it as a version of Leah, and both are defensible — worth deciding early which one your family says.
- Lei — Informal clipping; also stands alone as a Hawaiian given name.
- Lia — Used both as a short form and as an independent given name across Italian, Portuguese and Dutch.
- Lea — Doubles as a full given name in German, French and Scandinavian records.
- Lele — Family-level nickname, mostly heard in Portuguese-speaking households.
- Also Lee.
Lilith
LIL-ith
Stress on the first syllable, which rhymes with "fill." The final -th is soft, as in "with." Armenian and Hebrew speakers say Lilit, with the stress on the second syllable and no -th sound.
- Lily — The most common everyday short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right, and much more widely used that way.
- Lil — Informal, family-and-friends level; not usually written down.
- Lili — Informal; also a standalone given name in French, German and Hungarian.
- Lilu — Affectionate, invented-at-home variety rather than an established form.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Leia if you want…
- a name fewer children share#297 in 2025 — leia will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyLeia is holding its place on the charts
Choose Lilith if you want…
- a name most people already know#277 in 2025, 1,111 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 39 places on the charts in five years
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
Leia
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and no silent letters — easy for a young child to write and easy to say once heard.
- Documented in Hebrew, Greek, Portuguese and Hawaiian traditions, so it is recognizable well beyond English.
- A widely known cultural reference means almost no one needs the spelling explained twice.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, LAY-ah and LEE-ah, mean the name will occasionally be said the way you did not intend. A quick correction usually settles it, but the correcting never quite stops.
- The Star Wars association is immediate and permanent for a great many people, and it will draw comments — affectionate ones, mostly, but frequent.
- Leah, Lea, Lia and Léia are all in circulation, so forms and email addresses will sometimes come back with the wrong one.
Lilith
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that most people get it right on the first hearing.
- One of the longest documented records of any name on this page — Mesopotamian incantations, the Hebrew Bible, the Talmud, medieval texts, nineteenth-century painting and poetry.
- Lily and Lil are ready-made short forms already in wide use, so the everyday version needs no explaining.
To consider
- The strongest association is with a demon and with Adam's rebellious first wife. Many people find that history the best part of the name; some religious relatives will find it the reason to object. Worth knowing which conversation you are walking into.
- Lily is so much more common that a Lilith who goes by Lily will often be assumed to be a Lily, and will spend some time correcting the record on paper.
- The bearers alive today are overwhelmingly young children, so for now the name reads as new to most adults even though the record behind it is ancient.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
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 Leia and Lilith 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 Leia and Lilith?
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
- The steadiest names in America
- Hawaiian names full of ocean light
- Star Wars names in the American record
- Science-fiction names in real use
- all guides
Where Leia and Lilith each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Leia or Lilith — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Leia or Lilith?
- Lilith, in 2025: Lilith ranked #277 with 1,111 babies; Leia ranked #297 with 1,033 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Leia or Lilith?
- Lilith. Over the last five years Leia moved down 1 place; Lilith moved up 39 places.
- Which is the older name, Leia or Lilith?
- Leia entered the US charts in 1949; Lilith entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Lilith is the older name.
- How many people are named Leia and Lilith?
- About 18,500 people named Leia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,500 people named Lilith are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Leias or Liliths in the classroom?
- Leia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Lilith 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Leia, Lilith and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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