Head to head · Girls' names
Macy vs Monica
#718 vs #736 in 2025
Macy is a whisker ahead (#718 vs #736 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Macy is stepping back from its peak, Monica is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Monica has the edge.
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, Monica leads 3 measures of 6; Macy 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: Macy #892, Monica #718 — Monica higher
- 1890s: Macy #1077, Monica #559 — Monica higher
- 1900s: Macy #1163, Monica #483 — Monica higher
- 1910s: Macy #1414, Monica #427 — Monica higher
- 1920s: Macy #1639, Monica #481 — Monica higher
- 1930s: Macy #1916, Monica #424 — Monica higher
- 1940s: Macy #2662, Monica #357 — Monica higher
- 1950s: Macy #3306, Monica #183 — Monica higher
- 1960s: Macy #3945, Monica #94 — Monica higher
- 1970s: Macy #3074, Monica #45 — Monica higher
- 1980s: Macy #2158, Monica #58 — Monica higher
- 1990s: Macy #402, Monica #92 — Monica higher
- 2000s: Macy #251, Monica #239 — Monica higher
- 2010s: Macy #426, Monica #525 — Macy higher
- 2020s: Macy #674, Monica #721 — Macy higher
Monica stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Macy has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Macy | Monica |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #892 | #718 |
| 1890s | #1077 | #559 |
| 1900s | #1163 | #483 |
| 1910s | #1414 | #427 |
| 1920s | #1639 | #481 |
| 1930s | #1916 | #424 |
| 1940s | #2662 | #357 |
| 1950s | #3306 | #183 |
| 1960s | #3945 | #94 |
| 1970s | #3074 | #45 |
| 1980s | #2158 | #58 |
| 1990s | #402 | #92 |
| 2000s | #251 | #239 |
| 2010s | #426 | #525 |
| 2020s | #674 | #721 |
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
Macy
from a French place-name, the estate of Maccius
Macy is usually traced to Massy or Macey, French place-names from the Latin personal name Maccius. Other origins for the surname have been suggested.
Maccius → Massy → Macy
How it traveled
Rowland Hussey Macy went to sea on a Nantucket whaler as a young man, and the company says the red star of its logo came from a tattoo he got then. After several failed stores he opened one in New York that grew into the largest in the world.
Monica
Not established
The traditional derivations are from a Greek word for alone or a Latin one for advising, and neither is convincing. There was a Numidian deity called Mon whose name appears in inscriptions near her home town, and the connection has been proposed seriously. Berber is poorly attested for the period, so the honest answer is that the name comes from a place we can locate and a language we cannot read enough of.
a name from Roman North Africa with no Latin explanation → Augustine's mother carries it in the fourth century → the Confessions preserve her in detail → the name spreads through the western church → an American peak in the late 1970s
How it traveled
She is documented in unusual detail because her son wrote about her. The Confessions describe a woman who followed him from Africa to Rome and then to Milan, argued with him for years about his beliefs, wept at him, prayed at him, and was still going when he finally gave in — and who then died at Ostia waiting for the boat home.
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
Macy
MAY-see
Two syllables, stressed on the first.
- Mace — A short form, though it is also a weapon and a spice.
Monica
MON-ih-kuh
Three syllables with the stress at the front in English. Spanish and Italian keep the same stress and give the vowels a purer sound.
- Mona — The front, a complete name in its own right and rather older.
- Nica — The back of the name; short, current and unusual.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Macy if you want…
- a name most people already know#718 in 2025, 390 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsMacy is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesMacy is 2 syllables to Monica's 3
- a newer arrivalMacy entered the US charts in 1885
Choose Monica if you want…
- a name fewer children share#736 in 2025 — monica will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name with more sound in itMonica runs 3 syllables, Macy 2
- a long American recordMonica was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Macy
Strengths
- It is bright, friendly and easy to spell.
- It is familiar without being among the most common names.
To consider
- Nearly everyone will think of the department store and its parade.
- A very few boys have been given it; for them it will read as a girl's name everywhere.
Monica
Strengths
- It works without alteration across most of Europe and Latin America.
- Mona and Nica are both available and belong to different centuries.
- It has a genuinely well-documented namesake, which most early saints do not.
To consider
- There is no established meaning, and the ones in name books are guesses.
- It is closely dated to the 1970s and 1980s in American use.
- A televised scandal of the 1990s attached itself to the name for a decade.
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 Macy and Monica 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 Macy and Monica?
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
- Generation X names (born 1965–1980)
- Superhero names, secret identities included
- Names that belong entirely to the 1970s
- all guides
Where Macy and Monica each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Macy or Monica — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Macy or Monica?
- Macy, in 2025: Macy ranked #718 with 390 babies; Monica ranked #736 with 371 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Macy or Monica?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Macy moved down 97 places; Monica moved down 40 places.
- Which is the older name, Macy or Monica?
- Macy entered the US charts in 1885; Monica was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Monica is the older name.
- How many people are named Macy and Monica?
- About 31,500 people named Macy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 231,000 people named Monica are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Macys or Monicas in the classroom?
- Macy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Monica 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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