Head to head · Girls' names
Liana vs Londyn
#385 vs #388 in 2025
Liana is a whisker ahead (#385 vs #388 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Liana is climbing the charts fast, Londyn 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, Liana leads 4 measures of 6; Londyn 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
- 1920s: Liana #4053, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1930s: Liana #4204, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1940s: Liana #2531, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1950s: Liana #1720, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1960s: Liana #1453, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1970s: Liana #1119, Londyn — — Liana higher
- 1980s: Liana #933, Londyn #8761 — Liana higher
- 1990s: Liana #824, Londyn #5074 — Liana higher
- 2000s: Liana #723, Londyn #1677 — Liana higher
- 2010s: Liana #512, Londyn #190 — Londyn higher
- 2020s: Liana #434, Londyn #260 — Londyn higher
Liana stood higher in 9 of 11 decades; Londyn has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Liana | Londyn |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | #4053 | — |
| 1930s | #4204 | — |
| 1940s | #2531 | — |
| 1950s | #1720 | — |
| 1960s | #1453 | — |
| 1970s | #1119 | — |
| 1980s | #933 | #8761 |
| 1990s | #824 | #5074 |
| 2000s | #723 | #1677 |
| 2010s | #512 | #190 |
| 2020s | #434 | #260 |
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
Liana
Either a short form of Juliana or Liliana, or the French word for a climbing vine
The most common account treats Liana as the tail end of a longer name — Iuliana/Juliana in Italian and Romanian use, or Liliana, or Eliana — in which case the meaning belongs to the parent name. The other account points to French *liane*, from *lier*, 'to bind' (Latin *ligare*), the botanical word for a woody vine that climbs a tree. Both are genuine; neither has pushed the other out.
Iulia → Iuliana → Juliana → Liana
How it traveled
The clipping route is the older and better documented one: Latin Iulia gave Iuliana, which traveled into Italian and Romanian as Iuliana and Juliana, and Liana is what remains when the first syllables fall away — the same trimming that turned Elisabetta into Betta. Liliana and Eliana lose their heads the same way and land in the same place.
Londyn
From London, the English capital
What Londyn refers to is plain. What the city's own name once meant is the unsettled part: Londinium is pre-Roman and most likely Brittonic, and scholars have not agreed on a reading — a personal name Londinos and words describing the river or its flood-prone ground both have serious support.
Londinium → Lunden → London → Londyn
How it traveled
London appears in Roman records as Londinium and in Old English as Lunden, a name that outlasted both of the empires that wrote it down. English speakers have long handed place names to children, usually by way of surnames, and the city itself joined that traffic as a first name in the United States in the late twentieth century, in company with Brooklyn and Paris.
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
Liana
lee-AH-nuh
Also said lee-AN-uh, with the middle syllable rhyming on 'an'. The first is the Italian and Romanian pronunciation and the more usual one in the US; the second follows the English pronunciation of the vine. Either way the stress lands on the second syllable, and the spelling gives no trouble to a first-time reader.
- Lia — The most common short form, and a standalone given name in Italy, Germany and the US.
- Ana — Takes the back half instead of the front; a full name in its own right across Spanish, Portuguese and Slavic use.
- Li — A one-syllable informal clip, used at home more than on paper.
- Nia — Pulled from the middle; also an independent name of Welsh and Swahili use.
- Also Lili.
Londyn
LUN-din
Exactly the city: stress on the first syllable, the second one soft. Nobody will need to be told how to say it — only how to write it.
- Lo — Informal, family-and-friends shortening; the most common one in practice.
- Lon — Informal clipping of the first syllable; also a standalone name in older American records.
- Lonnie — Informal; stands on its own as a given name for both men and women in earlier generations.
- Londy — Informal, mostly used by younger siblings and playground friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Liana if you want…
- a name on the way upup 77 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itLiana runs 3 syllables, Londyn 2
Choose Londyn if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsLondyn is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesLondyn is 2 syllables to Liana's 3
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
Liana
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, Spanish, Italian and Romanian alike — a name that survives a plane journey without alteration.
- Comes with ready-made short forms, Lia and Ana, both of which also work as full names.
- Stands on its own as a given name in Russia, Armenia and Georgia, so it needs no longer version behind it.
To consider
- Two pronunciations are in real use, lee-AH-nuh and lee-AN-uh, so expect to correct people occasionally — a one-second fix, but a lifelong one.
- Lianna, Leanna, Leana and Liana all exist, and hearing the name aloud does not tell anyone which spelling you chose. Saying the letters will become routine.
- It is also an English noun for a jungle vine, familiar to anyone who has read about rainforests. Harmless, but the association is out there.
Londyn
Strengths
- Everyone already knows the sound, because the city carries it. There is no pronunciation to teach, at home or abroad.
- Two clean syllables with a familiar -yn ending, so it sits easily beside classmates' names on a list.
- Established informal short forms in real use — Lo, Lon, Lonnie — for a name that is otherwise said in full.
To consider
- London is the default spelling of the word, so Londyn will be corrected to it for life — on forms, in emails, by teachers who mean well. It is a one-second fix each time, but it is a lifetime of one-second fixes.
- A city name invites a question: people will assume a family connection to London and sometimes ask about it. Some families have one and enjoy the telling; others will want an easy answer ready.
- This name's whole wave is recent, so nearly everyone carrying it is still a child. It reads as contemporary rather than inherited, and there are few grown Londyns to point to.
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 Liana and Londyn 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 Liana and Londyn?
Put both to the vote.
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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
Where Liana and Londyn each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Liana or Londyn — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Liana or Londyn?
- Liana, in 2025: Liana ranked #385 with 801 babies; Londyn ranked #388 with 799 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Liana or Londyn?
- Liana. Over the last five years Liana moved up 77 places; Londyn moved down 225 places.
- Which is the older name, Liana or Londyn?
- Liana entered the US charts in 1929; Londyn entered the US charts in 1989. On the American record, Liana is the older name.
- How many people are named Liana and Londyn?
- About 20,000 people named Liana are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 27,000 people named Londyn are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lianas or Londyns in the classroom?
- Liana will almost certainly be the only one in school. Londyn 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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