Head to head · Girls' names
Makenna vs Marina
#593 vs #601 in 2025
Makenna is a whisker ahead (#593 vs #601 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Makenna is stepping back from its peak, Marina is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Marina 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
The tape is even: Makenna and Marina 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: Makenna —, Marina #1136 — Marina higher
- 1890s: Makenna —, Marina #1286 — Marina higher
- 1900s: Makenna —, Marina #1518 — Marina higher
- 1910s: Makenna —, Marina #1281 — Marina higher
- 1920s: Makenna —, Marina #982 — Marina higher
- 1930s: Makenna —, Marina #958 — Marina higher
- 1940s: Makenna —, Marina #806 — Marina higher
- 1950s: Makenna —, Marina #687 — Marina higher
- 1960s: Makenna —, Marina #546 — Marina higher
- 1970s: Makenna —, Marina #592 — Marina higher
- 1980s: Makenna #5232, Marina #502 — Marina higher
- 1990s: Makenna #1076, Marina #286 — Marina higher
- 2000s: Makenna #240, Marina #425 — Makenna higher
- 2010s: Makenna #282, Marina #657 — Makenna higher
- 2020s: Makenna #459, Marina #646 — Makenna higher
Marina stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Makenna has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Makenna | Marina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #1136 |
| 1890s | — | #1286 |
| 1900s | — | #1518 |
| 1910s | — | #1281 |
| 1920s | — | #982 |
| 1930s | — | #958 |
| 1940s | — | #806 |
| 1950s | — | #687 |
| 1960s | — | #546 |
| 1970s | — | #592 |
| 1980s | #5232 | #502 |
| 1990s | #1076 | #286 |
| 2000s | #240 | #425 |
| 2010s | #282 | #657 |
| 2020s | #459 | #646 |
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
Makenna
"son of Cionaodh," from the Irish surname Mac Cionaoith
The surname layer is clear enough: Mac Cionaoith means "son of Cionaodh." What Cionaodh itself means is where scholars part ways — one reading takes it as cion, "love" or "affection," joined to Aodh, the old Irish name tied to fire; another simply glosses the whole thing as "born of fire" through Aodh alone. Both readings are seriously held, and neither has won.
Aodh → Cionaodh → Mac Cionaoith → McKenna → Makenna
How it traveled
The name begins as a patronymic in Ireland — Mac Cionaoith, borne by a family long associated with Truagh in County Monaghan — and traveled with Irish emigrants into English-speaking records as McKenna. In the late twentieth century American parents began using Irish and Scottish Mac- surnames as girls' first names, and McKenna moved with that current.
Marina
Of the sea
From Latin marinus, the adjective formed from mare, "sea" — Marina is its feminine form.
mare (Latin, "sea") → marinus → Marinus → Marina
How it traveled
The name begins as ordinary Latin: marinus, "belonging to the sea," which became the masculine name Marinus and the feminine Marina. Early Christian veneration carried it out of Latin and into Greek and then Slavic use, and it settled deeply into the Orthodox world, where it has been in continuous use for centuries.
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
Makenna
muh-KEN-uh
Stress falls on the middle syllable. The first is a light, unstressed muh — not "may" — which is the one thing occasionally worth correcting.
- Kenna — The most common short form, and a standalone given name in its own right in US records.
- Mak — Informal, often written Mack; used among friends and on teams.
- Kenny — Informal and playful; also long established as a boy's name, so it reads as a nickname rather than a name.
- Mackie — Informal, family-level; sometimes spelled Makky.
- Also Ken.
Marina
muh-REE-nuh
Stress falls on the middle syllable. Spanish, Italian and Russian speakers say it with fuller vowels — mah-REE-nah — which is the same name, not a correction.
- Rina — The most common English short form; also used on its own as a given name.
- Mari — Informal, and independently a given name in Spanish, Italian and Japanese contexts.
- Marinka — A Slavic diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than formal.
- Marisha — Russian diminutive (Мариша), used within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Makenna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMakenna is stepping back from its peak
Choose Marina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 103 places on the charts in five years
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
Makenna
Strengths
- Spelling and sound match, so it survives being said aloud over a phone better than the McKenna and Mackenna forms.
- Comes with Kenna ready-made — a short form that also stands alone as a given name, giving a formal and an informal option from day one.
- Sits inside a sound family Americans already know from Mackenzie and McKenna, so it is grasped instantly even by people meeting it for the first time.
To consider
- It competes with McKenna, Mackenna, Mckenna and Makena, so expect to spell it out fairly often — the payoff is that your version needs no explaining once written.
- Surname-into-first-name is a distinctly recent American naming habit, and the sound sits with a particular cohort. It reads modern rather than timeless, which some parents want and some don't.
- The meaning is honest but layered: it comes through a family name, not a word, and the root behind that family name has never been settled. If a clear one-line meaning matters to you, this one will always need a paragraph.
Marina
Strengths
- One spelling works in English, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Russian, with no adaptation needed at a border or on a form.
- Reads correctly at first sight for most English speakers, because the word marina is already familiar.
- Long-established short forms — Rina, Mari, Marinka — rather than nicknames someone has to invent.
To consider
- It is also the English word for a boat harbor, so the association is instant and generally pleasant — but the name will occasionally be read as a place before a person.
- Expect a lifetime of small mix-ups with Maria, Mariana and Marine, all of which sound close and none of which are the same name.
- In bilingual families the vowels shift — muh-REE-nuh at school, mah-REE-nah at home. Both are correct, and children who grow up with two versions tend to manage them easily.
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 Makenna and Marina 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 Makenna and Marina?
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
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- Summer names full of light
- Shakespeare names still stealing scenes
- Water names that flow
- all guides
Where Makenna and Marina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Makenna or Marina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Makenna or Marina?
- Makenna, in 2025: Makenna ranked #593 with 495 babies; Marina ranked #601 with 488 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Makenna or Marina?
- Marina. Over the last five years Makenna moved down 191 places; Marina moved up 103 places.
- Which is the older name, Makenna or Marina?
- Makenna entered the US charts in 1982; Marina entered the US charts in 1886. On the American record, Marina is the older name.
- How many people are named Makenna and Marina?
- About 33,500 people named Makenna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 36,500 people named Marina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Makennas or Marinas in the classroom?
- Makenna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Marina 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 Makenna, Marina and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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