Head to head · Girls' names
Lyla vs Madeline
#80 vs #81 in 2025
Lyla is a whisker ahead (#80 vs #81 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Lyla is climbing the charts fast, Madeline is back after a long quiet spell.
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
The tape is even: Lyla and Madeline each lead 3 measures of 6.
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: Lyla #1015, Madeline #314 — Madeline higher
- 1890s: Lyla #995, Madeline #182 — Madeline higher
- 1900s: Lyla #1097, Madeline #146 — Madeline higher
- 1910s: Lyla #954, Madeline #129 — Madeline higher
- 1920s: Lyla #792, Madeline #154 — Madeline higher
- 1930s: Lyla #871, Madeline #209 — Madeline higher
- 1940s: Lyla #1058, Madeline #220 — Madeline higher
- 1950s: Lyla #1584, Madeline #346 — Madeline higher
- 1960s: Lyla #2919, Madeline #446 — Madeline higher
- 1970s: Lyla #3571, Madeline #611 — Madeline higher
- 1980s: Lyla #3905, Madeline #494 — Madeline higher
- 1990s: Lyla #3441, Madeline #103 — Madeline higher
- 2000s: Lyla #919, Madeline #61 — Madeline higher
- 2010s: Lyla #136, Madeline #92 — Madeline higher
- 2020s: Lyla #99, Madeline #93 — Madeline higher
Madeline stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Lyla | Madeline |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1015 | #314 |
| 1890s | #995 | #182 |
| 1900s | #1097 | #146 |
| 1910s | #954 | #129 |
| 1920s | #792 | #154 |
| 1930s | #871 | #209 |
| 1940s | #1058 | #220 |
| 1950s | #1584 | #346 |
| 1960s | #2919 | #446 |
| 1970s | #3571 | #611 |
| 1980s | #3905 | #494 |
| 1990s | #3441 | #103 |
| 2000s | #919 | #61 |
| 2010s | #136 | #92 |
| 2020s | #99 | #93 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Lyla
- Scotland#50
- England & Wales#74
Madeline
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
Lyla
"night" in Arabic, through Layla — though the Lila/Lyla spellings also draw on Sanskrit "play"
Two serious lines meet at this spelling. The dominant one is Arabic layla, "night", the name of the beloved in the classical Layla and Majnun story, which reaches English as Layla, Leila and Laila. The other is Sanskrit līlā, "play" or "divine play", the source of Indian Lila. Because Lyla is a modern English respelling rather than a name with its own separate paper trail, it inherits both readings honestly.
Layla → Leila → Lila → Lyla
How it traveled
The oldest road runs through Arabic, where Layla is the woman at the center of the Layla and Majnun story — an Arabic tale of doomed love that the Persian poet Nizami turned into a long verse romance in the twelfth century, after which it spread across Persian, Turkish, Urdu and Kurdish literature. English picked the name up in the Romantic era, where Byron used the form Leila in his Eastern tales, and again in the twentieth century through popular music.
Madeline
from Magdala, a town on the Sea of Galilee
The name is a byname turned given name: Magdalene meant 'the woman from Magdala'. The place name itself is generally traced to a Hebrew and Aramaic root meaning 'tower'.
Magdala → Magdalēnē → Magdalena → Madeleine → Madeline
How it traveled
The name begins as a description rather than a name. Greek translators of the Christian scriptures rendered the Aramaic byname of Mary of Magdala as Magdalēnē, and Latin carried it on as Magdalena.
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
Lyla
LY-luh
First syllable rhymes with "my". The most frequent mix-up is with Layla (LAY-luh) and with Lila, which some families say LY-luh and others LEE-luh — expect to correct both.
- Ly — The obvious clipping, used at home rather than on paper; short enough that it usually needs the full name nearby.
- Lylie — An affectionate extension rather than a shortening, common with young children and often dropped later.
- Lulu — A loose family pet name rather than a direct short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
Madeline
MAD-uh-lin
Also said MAD-uh-line, with the last syllable rhyming with 'line'. Both are established in the United States, so expect to state your preference now and then. The French Madeleine is mad-uh-LEN.
- Maddie — By far the most common short form in American use; also given as a standalone name, and shared with Madison, Madelyn and Matilda.
- Maddy — The same nickname, spelled the other way; families tend to pick one and keep it.
- Mads — Informal and clipped, mostly among friends and siblings rather than adults.
- Lena — Drawn from the Magdalena end of the family; used more in continental Europe than in the US, and a full name in its own right.
- Also Made.
Who has carried each name
Lyla
No documented entry for Lyla yet.
Madeline
Madeline Kahn (b. 1942) — Comic genius of Blazing Saddles and Young Frankenstein
Madeline Miller (b. 1978) — Wrote Circe and The Song of Achilles
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 Lyla if you want…
- a name on the way upup 38 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesLyla is 2 syllables to Madeline's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooLyla is on the national lists of Scotland and England & Wales
- a newer arrivalLyla entered the US charts in 1884
Choose Madeline if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMadeline runs 3 syllables, Lyla 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Maddie, Maddy and Mads
- a long American recordMadeline was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 30% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 53% for Lyla
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
Lyla
Strengths
- Short, evenly stressed and readable at first sight for English speakers, with no silent letters and no ambiguity about where the emphasis falls.
- Sits on a name with a very long documented literary history in Arabic, Persian and Turkish, so it is recognizable well beyond English.
- Used across the English-speaking world, including in Britain, which makes it portable rather than regional.
To consider
- Lila, Leila, Layla and Laila all sound close or identical, so she will spell it out often and receive mail with the other versions.
- This is a recent wave rather than a long steady presence, so most people carrying the name are children — the effect skews young for now, and is climbing.
- She is unlikely to share it with a classmate today, but a fast-rising name can feel more crowded by the time she reaches high school.
Madeline
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone can read on sight, even where the -lyn and -leine variants compete.
- An unbroken record in American name statistics from the earliest years of the data to the present, with no long gap.
- Maddie is instantly understood as its short form, so a formal name and a casual one come together.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate, MAD-uh-lin and MAD-uh-line. Neither is wrong, which means correcting people is a lifelong small errand.
- Maddie is a busy nickname, shared with Madison, Madelyn and Matilda. Any given classroom may hold several Maddies and only one Madeline.
- Madeleine, Madelyn, Madalyn and Madilyn all sound alike, so the spelling will be asked for and sometimes still guessed wrong.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Lyla
53%chance Lyla feels dated by 2040
Lyla 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.
Madeline
30%chance Madeline feels dated by 2040
Madeline is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
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 Lyla and Madeline 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 Lyla and Madeline?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Lyla and Madeline — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Lyla or Madeline — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Lyla or Madeline?
- Lyla, in 2025: Lyla ranked #80 with 3,089 babies; Madeline ranked #81 with 3,086 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Lyla or Madeline?
- Lyla. Over the last five years Lyla moved up 38 places; Madeline moved up 15 places.
- Which is the older name, Lyla or Madeline?
- Lyla entered the US charts in 1884; Madeline was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Madeline is the older name.
- How many people are named Lyla and Madeline?
- About 46,500 people named Lyla are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 160,000 people named Madeline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Lylas or Madelines in the classroom?
- Lyla will almost certainly be the only one in school. Madeline 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 Lyla, Madeline and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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