Head to head · Girls' names
Lila vs Tatum
#186 vs #189 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Lila is a whisker ahead (#186 vs #189 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Lila leads 5 measures of 6; Tatum leads 1.
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: Lila #234, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1890s: Lila #206, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1900s: Lila #205, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1910s: Lila #228, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1920s: Lila #198, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1930s: Lila #225, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1940s: Lila #346, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1950s: Lila #477, Tatum — — Lila higher
- 1960s: Lila #764, Tatum #6564 — Lila higher
- 1970s: Lila #1027, Tatum #1504 — Lila higher
- 1980s: Lila #1154, Tatum #1695 — Lila higher
- 1990s: Lila #1221, Tatum #961 — Tatum higher
- 2000s: Lila #445, Tatum #378 — Tatum higher
- 2010s: Lila #195, Tatum #378 — Lila higher
- 2020s: Lila #213, Tatum #253 — Lila higher
Lila stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Lila has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lila | Tatum |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #234 | — |
| 1890s | #206 | — |
| 1900s | #205 | — |
| 1910s | #228 | — |
| 1920s | #198 | — |
| 1930s | #225 | — |
| 1940s | #346 | — |
| 1950s | #477 | — |
| 1960s | #764 | #6564 |
| 1970s | #1027 | #1504 |
| 1980s | #1154 | #1695 |
| 1990s | #1221 | #961 |
| 2000s | #445 | #378 |
| 2010s | #195 | #378 |
| 2020s | #213 | #253 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Lila
- France#90
Tatum
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Lila
"night" (Arabic), "play, divine play" (Sanskrit), or a short form of Lillian or Delilah
Three serious readings meet at this spelling. As a Western form of Arabic Layla it carries the sense "night." In Sanskrit, līlā means "play" or "sport," a term used in Hindu theology for the play of the divine, and Lila is a documented Indian given name from it. And in nineteenth-century English-speaking use, Lila served plainly as a short form of Lillian, Delilah and sometimes Elizabeth. Which road a particular Lila came down usually depends on the family.
Layla → Leila → Lila
How it traveled
The oldest and best-documented road runs through Arabic: Layla, the beloved of the poet Qays in the tale of Layla and Majnun, given its most famous shape by the twelfth-century Persian poet Nizami and retold across Persian, Turkish and Urdu literature ever since. English-language readers met the name through Romantic-era poetry — Byron used Leila in The Giaour in 1813 — and the vowel loosened into Leila, Laila and Lila as it moved between alphabets.
Tatum
Tata's homestead
From the Old English personal name Tata plus hām, "homestead" or "village" — the source of the Lancashire place name Tatham and the surname Tatum. What Tata itself meant is not established; it looks like an affectionate short name of the kind Old English used freely.
Tata → Tatham → Tatum
How it traveled
The name starts on the ground: a settlement in northern England named for whoever held it, recorded as Tatham and later smoothed to Tatum. Like thousands of English place-names, it became a family name, and it crossed the Atlantic that way — carried by families, not by parents choosing it for a baby.
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
Lila
LYE-luh
Both LYE-luh and LEE-luh are in genuine use in the US, the second reflecting the Arabic and Sanskrit sources more closely. Neither is wrong, but the two do not sort themselves out on their own — most families end up saying which they mean, more than once.
- Lil — The most common informal clip; also used for Lillian and Lily, so it rarely points back to one name.
- Lilly — Informal extension rather than a true shortening; stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Lils — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings; a modern-sounding form.
- Lolly — Family-only affectionate form, more common in older generations.
- Also Li.
Tatum
TAY-tum
Two syllables, stress on the first. The spelling gives the sound away, so it survives a phone call and a roll call without correction.
- Tate — The obvious short form, and a well-established given name in its own right for boys and girls.
- Tay — Informal, family-and-friends use.
- Tatie — Informal, mostly used with small children.
Who has carried each name
Lila
Lila Downs (b. 1968) — Grammy-winning Mexican-American singer
Tatum
Tatum O'Neal (b. 1963) — Youngest competitive Oscar winner ever — at age 10
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Lila if you want…
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Lil, Lilly and Lils
- a name that charts abroad tooLila is on the national lists of France
- a long American recordLila was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Tatum if you want…
- a name on the way upup 154 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalTatum entered the US charts in 1966
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
Lila
Strengths
- Two syllables, four letters, and no silent letters — easy to write early and easy to read aloud once the vowel is agreed on.
- An unbroken presence in American records from the beginning of such records to now, so it reads as neither invented nor dated.
- Works across languages: recognizable in Arabic, Turkish, Persian, French and Indian naming traditions without needing a new spelling.
To consider
- The pronunciation genuinely splits — LYE-luh and LEE-luh are both current — so expect to correct people occasionally, and expect a few to keep getting it wrong.
- Lila, Lyla, Layla, Leila and Laila are all in circulation and all sound close. Spelling it out over the phone will become routine, and mail will sometimes arrive under the wrong version.
- The sound is currently well represented across that whole family of spellings, so a Lila may meet a Layla or a Lyla even while remaining the only Lila.
Tatum
Strengths
- Reads and spells itself: anyone who sees Tatum says it right the first time, and anyone who hears it writes it right.
- Works for a boy or a girl with no change in spelling or sound — the split is close to even in American records.
- Comes with Tate ready-made as a short form, itself a real name rather than a coinage.
To consider
- Because it is given almost equally to boys and girls, forms, teachers and strangers will guess wrong about half the time. That is easy to correct but it will happen for life.
- It is rising quickly. A Tatum starting school now will likely be the only one in the building, but the name may feel considerably more familiar by the time that child is grown.
- Tatum is a surname as well as a first name — there are well-known people who carry it as a last name — so it can occasionally read as a surname on a list or a form.
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 Lila and Tatum 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 Lila and Tatum?
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
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Names far more common than their rank admits
- Soft-sounding names built on liquid letters
- Names ending in -la
- all guides
Where Lila and Tatum each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lila or Tatum — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lila or Tatum?
- Lila, in 2025: Lila ranked #186 with 1,670 babies; Tatum ranked #189 with 1,661 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lila or Tatum?
- Tatum. Over the last five years Lila moved up 42 places; Tatum moved up 154 places.
- Which is the older name, Lila or Tatum?
- Lila was already in use when US records began in 1880; Tatum entered the US charts in 1966. On the American record, Lila is the older name.
- How many people are named Lila and Tatum?
- About 47,500 people named Lila are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 28,500 people named Tatum are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lilas or Tatums in the classroom?
- Lila will almost certainly be the only one in school. Tatum 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 Lila, Tatum and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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