Head to head · Girls' names
Maisy vs Valery
#745 vs #743 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Valery is a whisker ahead (#743 vs #745 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, Valery leads 5 measures of 6; Maisy 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
- 1920s: Maisy —, Valery #4486 — Valery higher
- 1930s: Maisy —, Valery #3790 — Valery higher
- 1940s: Maisy —, Valery #3020 — Valery higher
- 1950s: Maisy —, Valery #1676 — Valery higher
- 1960s: Maisy —, Valery #1760 — Valery higher
- 1970s: Maisy —, Valery #2802 — Valery higher
- 1980s: Maisy —, Valery #3273 — Valery higher
- 1990s: Maisy #8137, Valery #2312 — Valery higher
- 2000s: Maisy #2528, Valery #1149 — Valery higher
- 2010s: Maisy #1514, Valery #1088 — Valery higher
- 2020s: Maisy #912, Valery #824 — Valery higher
Valery stood higher in every recorded decade — 11 of 11.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maisy | Valery |
|---|---|---|
| 1920s | — | #4486 |
| 1930s | — | #3790 |
| 1940s | — | #3020 |
| 1950s | — | #1676 |
| 1960s | — | #1760 |
| 1970s | — | #2802 |
| 1980s | — | #3273 |
| 1990s | #8137 | #2312 |
| 2000s | #2528 | #1149 |
| 2010s | #1514 | #1088 |
| 2020s | #912 | #824 |
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.
Valery
from Latin valere, 'to be strong, to be healthy'
The name comes from Valerius, the name of one of Rome's old patrician clans, which was formed from that verb.
Valerius → Valeria → Valérie → Valerie → Valery
How it traveled
Valerius was a Roman clan name, and its feminine Valeria was in use across the Latin-speaking world long before it became a Christian name. Romance languages kept it close to the original — Valeria in Spanish and Italian, Valérie in French — while Slavic languages produced Valeriya for women and Valeriy for men.
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.
Valery
VAL-uh-ree
English speakers say it like Valerie. In Spanish-speaking households it is often vah-leh-REE, with the stress at the end, and the French Valérie is va-lay-REE. All three are correct for this spelling — worth deciding early which one your family uses.
- Val — The long-established English short form, shared with Valerie and Valentina; used informally and occasionally on its own.
- Vale — Common in Spanish-speaking families, said VAH-leh; informal, mostly within the household.
- Valy — A written short form that keeps the ending of the full name; informal.
- Lera — Standard short form of Russian Valeriya rather than of the English spelling; occasionally used by Russian-speaking families.
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 Valery's 3
Choose Valery if you want…
- a name with more sound in itValery runs 3 syllables, Maisy 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
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.
Valery
Strengths
- The root is recognizable across Spanish, Italian, French, Russian and English, so the name is understood in most places without explanation.
- Val is a short form with centuries of use behind it, ready-made and needing no invention.
- Never met in numbers, yet no one has to be taught how to say it — the sound is already familiar through Valerie and Valeria.
To consider
- It will be written Valerie by default, all life long — on forms, in email addresses, by teachers. The correction is small but constant.
- The spelling carries two pronunciations, VAL-uh-ree and vah-leh-REE, and relatives may not choose the same one.
- Because Valery is also the usual English spelling of a Russian man's name, the occasional reader of a document or resume may picture a man before meeting her.
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 Maisy and Valery 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 Valery?
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.
Maisy or Valery — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maisy or Valery?
- Valery, in 2025: Valery ranked #743 with 366 babies; Maisy ranked #745 with 365 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maisy or Valery?
- Maisy. Over the last five years Maisy moved up 386 places; Valery moved up 161 places.
- Which is the older name, Maisy or Valery?
- Maisy entered the US charts in 1991; Valery entered the US charts in 1920. On the American record, Valery is the older name.
- How many people are named Maisy and Valery?
- About 4,200 people named Maisy are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,500 people named Valery are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maisys or Valerys in the classroom?
- Maisy will almost certainly be the only one in school. Valery 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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