Head to head · Girls' names
Maeve vs Melody
#76 vs #79 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Maeve is a whisker ahead (#76 vs #79 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, Maeve leads 4 measures of 6; Melody 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: Maeve —, Melody #2876 — Melody higher
- 1920s: Maeve —, Melody #4100 — Melody higher
- 1930s: Maeve —, Melody #2046 — Melody higher
- 1940s: Maeve #3869, Melody #568 — Melody higher
- 1950s: Maeve #4478, Melody #209 — Melody higher
- 1960s: Maeve #4635, Melody #195 — Melody higher
- 1970s: Maeve #5712, Melody #218 — Melody higher
- 1980s: Maeve #3129, Melody #249 — Melody higher
- 1990s: Maeve #1453, Melody #362 — Melody higher
- 2000s: Maeve #678, Melody #301 — Melody higher
- 2010s: Maeve #442, Melody #159 — Melody higher
- 2020s: Maeve #104, Melody #100 — Melody higher
Melody stood higher in every recorded decade — 12 of 12.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maeve | Melody |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #2876 |
| 1920s | — | #4100 |
| 1930s | — | #2046 |
| 1940s | #3869 | #568 |
| 1950s | #4478 | #209 |
| 1960s | #4635 | #195 |
| 1970s | #5712 | #218 |
| 1980s | #3129 | #249 |
| 1990s | #1453 | #362 |
| 2000s | #678 | #301 |
| 2010s | #442 | #159 |
| 2020s | #104 | #100 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maeve
- Scotland#23
- England & Wales#26
- Canada#46
Melody
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
Maeve
intoxicating, she who intoxicates
The Old Irish medb comes from the same root as the word for mead, the honey wine; the name is usually rendered "she who intoxicates" or "the intoxicating one."
Medb → Meadhbh → Méabh → Maeve
How it traveled
The name begins in Ireland as Medb, spelled Meadhbh in later Irish and Méabh in the modern simplified orthography. Its most famous bearer is the Medb of the Ulster Cycle, the Connacht queen whose demand for a prize bull sets the Táin Bó Cúailnge in motion — a story preserved in Irish manuscripts from the twelfth century onward.
Melody
Song, tune — literally 'singing of a poem'
The Greek melōidia joins melos, 'song' or 'tune', with aoidē, 'singing' — the same root behind the word ode.
melōidia (Greek) → melodia (Late Latin) → melodie (Old French) → Melody
How it traveled
The word begins in Greek as melōidia, passes into Late Latin as melodia, and reaches English through Old French melodie in the medieval period, when it named a sung line of poetry. For centuries it stayed a common noun in English, a musical term rather than anything a person was called.
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
Maeve
MAYV
One syllable, rhyming with cave and wave. The Irish spellings Méabh and Meadhbh are said the same way, which is why the anglicized form works so smoothly for English speakers.
- Mae — The most common short form, and a long-established given name in its own right.
- Maevie — Affectionate and家 family-level; used with young children rather than in writing.
- Mave — Informal, sometimes just the way the full name gets clipped in speech.
Melody
MEL-uh-dee
Stress on the first syllable, and the middle vowel is a light schwa. The French Mélodie shifts the stress toward the end, may-lo-DEE.
- Mel — The standard short form; also serves Melanie, Melissa and, for men, Melvin, so it rarely points to one name alone.
- Mellie — Informal and affectionate, mostly used within families rather than at school or work.
- Melly — An informal spelling of the same short form; interchangeable with Mellie in practice.
- Lodi — Occasional and family-made, drawn from the middle of the name rather than the front.
Who has carried each name
Maeve
Maeve Binchy (b. 1939) — Beloved Irish storyteller (Circle of Friends)
Melody
Melody Gardot (b. 1985) — Jazz singer who taught herself music while recovering from a near-fatal accident
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 Maeve if you want…
- a name on the way upup 98 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMaeve is 2 syllables to Melody's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMaeve is on the national lists of Scotland, England & Wales and Canada
Choose Melody if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMelody runs 3 syllables, Maeve 2
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
Maeve
Strengths
- Short and phonetic: an English reader gets it right on sight, without needing the Irish spelling explained.
- One syllable, so it needs no nickname to be usable — though Mae is there if a family wants one.
- A documented record stretching back to medieval Irish manuscripts, which is a longer paper trail than most names on the charts.
To consider
- It is climbing quickly. A child born now is unlikely to share a classroom with another Maeve, but the name will be more familiar by the time she is grown.
- Expect occasional misspellings — Mave, Maive, Meave — and the Irish forms Méabh and Meadhbh may come up if your family has ties to Ireland.
- The queen Medb of the Táin is a fierce, war-starting figure. Some parents love that; it is worth knowing the story before someone else tells you about it.
Melody
Strengths
- An ordinary English word, so the spelling is guessed correctly on the first try by almost anyone who hears it.
- Long-established short forms in Mel and Mellie, with a full-length name to fall back on.
- A documented line from Greek through Latin and French into English, unbroken as a word for many centuries.
To consider
- It is climbing rather than settling, so a Melody born now may meet more namesakes in her own year group than older bearers of the name ever did.
- Mel is shared with Melanie, Melissa and Melvin — useful, but it does not identify her the way the full name does.
- As a word-name, it invites the obvious music remarks: song puns, lyrics quoted at her. Most word-names carry a version of this, and most wearers outgrow the joke.
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 Maeve and Melody 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 Maeve and Melody?
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 Maeve and Melody — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maeve or Melody — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maeve or Melody?
- Maeve, in 2025: Maeve ranked #76 with 3,153 babies; Melody ranked #79 with 3,095 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maeve or Melody?
- Maeve. Over the last five years Maeve moved up 98 places; Melody moved up 27 places.
- Which is the older name, Maeve or Melody?
- Maeve entered the US charts in 1940; Melody entered the US charts in 1914. On the American record, Melody is the older name.
- How many people are named Maeve and Melody?
- About 29,500 people named Maeve are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 108,000 people named Melody are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maeves or Melodys in the classroom?
- Maeve will almost certainly be the only one in school. Melody 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 Maeve, Melody and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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