Head to head · Girls' names
Makenna vs Mina
#593 vs #595 in 2025
Makenna is a whisker ahead (#593 vs #595 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Makenna is stepping back from its peak, Mina is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Mina 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 Mina 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 —, Mina #217 — Mina higher
- 1890s: Makenna —, Mina #278 — Mina higher
- 1900s: Makenna —, Mina #391 — Mina higher
- 1910s: Makenna —, Mina #501 — Mina higher
- 1920s: Makenna —, Mina #653 — Mina higher
- 1930s: Makenna —, Mina #734 — Mina higher
- 1940s: Makenna —, Mina #966 — Mina higher
- 1950s: Makenna —, Mina #1328 — Mina higher
- 1960s: Makenna —, Mina #1582 — Mina higher
- 1970s: Makenna —, Mina #2042 — Mina higher
- 1980s: Makenna #5232, Mina #1818 — Mina higher
- 1990s: Makenna #1076, Mina #1449 — Makenna higher
- 2000s: Makenna #240, Mina #972 — Makenna higher
- 2010s: Makenna #282, Mina #756 — Makenna higher
- 2020s: Makenna #459, Mina #609 — Makenna higher
Mina stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Makenna has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Makenna | Mina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #217 |
| 1890s | — | #278 |
| 1900s | — | #391 |
| 1910s | — | #501 |
| 1920s | — | #653 |
| 1930s | — | #734 |
| 1940s | — | #966 |
| 1950s | — | #1328 |
| 1960s | — | #1582 |
| 1970s | — | #2042 |
| 1980s | #5232 | #1818 |
| 1990s | #1076 | #1449 |
| 2000s | #240 | #972 |
| 2010s | #282 | #756 |
| 2020s | #459 | #609 |
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.
Mina
Depends on the road: Persian 'enamel, azure glass'; as a European short form, it carries the meaning of the longer name behind it
Mina is not one name with a disputed meaning so much as several names that met at one spelling. In German, Dutch and Scandinavian use it is a clipped form of Wilhelmina (from Germanic elements for 'will' and 'helmet, protection') or of Hermina. In Persian, mina is a word for blue enamel or glasswork, and also names a flower. In Japanese it is written with various character combinations, each giving its own sense — commonly 'beautiful' plus another element. In the Balkans it also serves as a short form of Milena, and in Arabic-speaking families as one of Amina.
Willahelm → Wilhelmina → Mina
How it traveled
The European Mina is a worn-down Wilhelmina, a name that spread through German and Dutch households and traveled with them; the full form was heavy and the short form did all the daily work. Bram Stoker gave the pairing to English readers in Dracula, where Wilhelmina Murray goes by Mina throughout.
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.
Mina
MEE-nuh
MEE-nuh is the usual reading in English, Persian, Japanese and Korean use. Older German and Dutch families may say MIN-uh, closer to Minna, and a few English speakers guess MY-nuh on first sight. One correction usually settles it.
- Minnie — The long-established English pet form of Mina and Wilhelmina; also used as a given name in its own right.
- Min — Informal, family-level shortening; rarely written down.
- Mimi — Affectionate form, more common in French- and Italian-speaking use, and a standalone name too.
- Minka — Diminutive found in Dutch and Slavic use, and independently a given name.
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
- a name with more sound in itMakenna runs 3 syllables, Mina 2
- a newer arrivalMakenna entered the US charts in 1982
Choose Mina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 66 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMina is 2 syllables to Makenna's 3
- a long American recordMina 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
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.
Mina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and phonetic on the page — most people spell it right the first time after hearing it once.
- Works unchanged in German, Dutch, Persian, Japanese, Korean and Serbian, which is rare for a name this short.
- Stands on its own as a full given name, but also sits ready as the short form of Wilhelmina or Amina if you want a longer name on the certificate.
To consider
- It lives among close neighbors: Mia, Nina, Tina and Mila are all in heavy use, and Mina will occasionally be heard or written as one of them. Repeating it is usually enough.
- Because the same spelling arrives from Persian, East Asian and Germanic roots, people may assume a background your family does not have — sometimes an interesting conversation, sometimes a tiring one.
- MEE-nuh and MIN-uh both have real claim to the spelling, so expect to state your preference now and then.
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 Mina 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 Mina?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Makenna and Mina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Makenna or Mina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Makenna or Mina?
- Makenna, in 2025: Makenna ranked #593 with 495 babies; Mina ranked #595 with 491 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Makenna or Mina?
- Mina. Over the last five years Makenna moved down 191 places; Mina moved up 66 places.
- Which is the older name, Makenna or Mina?
- Makenna entered the US charts in 1982; Mina was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Mina is the older name.
- How many people are named Makenna and Mina?
- About 33,500 people named Makenna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,000 people named Mina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Makennas or Minas in the classroom?
- Makenna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mina 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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