Head to head · Girls' names
Maisy vs Mikayla
#745 vs #746 in 2025
Maisy is a whisker ahead (#745 vs #746 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maisy is climbing the charts fast, Mikayla 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
The tape is even: Maisy and Mikayla 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
- 1970s: Maisy —, Mikayla #6745 — Mikayla higher
- 1980s: Maisy —, Mikayla #2580 — Mikayla higher
- 1990s: Maisy #8137, Mikayla #295 — Mikayla higher
- 2000s: Maisy #2528, Mikayla #146 — Mikayla higher
- 2010s: Maisy #1514, Mikayla #329 — Mikayla higher
- 2020s: Maisy #912, Mikayla #661 — Mikayla higher
Mikayla stood higher in every recorded decade — 6 of 6.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maisy | Mikayla |
|---|---|---|
| 1970s | — | #6745 |
| 1980s | — | #2580 |
| 1990s | #8137 | #295 |
| 2000s | #2528 | #146 |
| 2010s | #1514 | #329 |
| 2020s | #912 | #661 |
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
Maisy
pearl
Maisy carries the meaning of Margaret, from Greek margarites, "pearl". The route runs through Mairead, the Gaelic form of Margaret, which gave Scotland the pet forms Maisie and Mysie.
Margarites → Margaret → Mairead → Maisie → Maisy
How it traveled
Margaret arrived in Scotland with the medieval church and became Mairead in Gaelic, and Mairead in everyday Scots speech wore down to Maisie and Mysie. Those short forms broke free and were used as full names, which is how Henry James could title a novel with one in 1897.
Mikayla
Who is like God? — a feminine form of Michael
The Hebrew name Mikha'el is built as a rhetorical question, not a statement; Michaela and its respellings, Mikayla among them, are the feminine forms.
Mikha'el → Michael → Michaela → Mikaela → Mikayla
How it traveled
Michael comes from the Hebrew Mikha'el, borne in scripture by the archangel who appears in the Book of Daniel and again in Revelation, and the name spread with Christianity across Greek, Latin and every language of Europe. Feminine forms followed — Michaela in German and Czech, Micaela in Spanish and Italian, Mihaela in Romanian — each pronounced according to local rules.
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
Maisy
MAY-zee
Stress on the first syllable; the s sounds like a z, as in Daisy. There is only one accepted way to say it, which spares a lifetime of corrections on that front.
- Mae — The most natural clipping, and a long-established given name on its own.
- Maise — Informal, mostly spoken rather than written.
- Maze — Playground-level informal, used by friends more than family.
Mikayla
mih-KAY-luh
Stress on the middle syllable. The spelling makes that pronunciation almost automatic for English speakers, which is much of the reason this form exists.
- Kayla — The back half of the name, and a full given name in its own right in the United States — some Mikaylas go by it everywhere outside the classroom register.
- Mika — Informal short form; also stands alone as a given name in several languages.
- Mickey — Older-style short form shared with Michael and Michaela; used affectionately rather than formally.
- Mik — Clipped one-syllable form, mostly spoken rather than written.
- Also Kay, Mimi.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maisy if you want…
- a name on the way upup 386 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMaisy is 2 syllables to Mikayla's 3
Choose Mikayla if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMikayla is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMikayla runs 3 syllables, Maisy 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Kayla, Mika and Mickey
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
Maisy
Strengths
- Instantly sayable in English: two syllables, a familiar rhyme in Daisy, and no pronunciation ambiguity to correct.
- Sits at the end of a long documented line — Margaret to Mairead to Maisie — so it has formal ancestry without sounding formal.
- Related forms exist across most of Europe: Marguerite, Margarita, Greta, Mairead.
To consider
- Maisie is the older and more widely known spelling, so expect to say "with a y" fairly often, and to see it written the other way by people acting in good faith.
- It shares its shape with Macy, Maci and Daisy, all in use at once. Some mishearing comes with the territory.
- Maisy is a pet form by origin, with no longer version behind it unless you register Margaret and use Maisy at home. Some parents like that flexibility; others prefer the short name to be the real one.
Mikayla
Strengths
- Reads correctly at first sight for English speakers — the spelling was built around the pronunciation rather than inherited from Latin or Greek.
- Rests on Michael, a name with an unbroken documented record of well over two thousand years and forms in nearly every European language.
- Comes with short forms already in circulation: Kayla, Mika, Mickey — including some that work as full names on their own.
To consider
- The spelling is one of several in active use — Michaela, Mikaela, Makayla, Micaela and McKayla all sound alike or nearly so. Expect to spell it out often, and expect forms to come back wrong.
- It is closely tied to one recent stretch of American naming, so it reads as contemporary rather than inherited. Many adults now carrying it are in their twenties, which shapes how the name lands on a baby.
- Kayla sits inside it and can quietly take over as the everyday name. Worth deciding in advance whether that suits you.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maisy
54%chance Maisy feels dated by 2040
Maisy 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.
Mikayla
69%chance Mikayla feels dated by 2040
Mikayla is coming down from a big peak (#82 in 1998). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
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 Maisy and Mikayla 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 Maisy and Mikayla?
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
Where Maisy and Mikayla each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maisy or Mikayla — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maisy or Mikayla?
- Maisy, in 2025: Maisy ranked #745 with 365 babies; Mikayla ranked #746 with 364 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maisy or Mikayla?
- Maisy. Over the last five years Maisy moved up 386 places; Mikayla moved down 202 places.
- Which is the older name, Maisy or Mikayla?
- Maisy entered the US charts in 1991; Mikayla entered the US charts in 1970. On the American record, Mikayla is the older name.
- How many people are named Maisy and Mikayla?
- About 4,200 people named Maisy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 56,000 people named Mikayla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maisys or Mikaylas in the classroom?
- Maisy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mikayla 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Maisy, Mikayla and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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