Head to head · Girls' names
Makenna vs Reyna
#593 vs #594 in 2025
Makenna is a whisker ahead (#593 vs #594 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Makenna is stepping back from its peak, Reyna is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Reyna 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
On the charts, Makenna leads 4 measures of 6; Reyna 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
- 1910s: Makenna —, Reyna #3187 — Reyna higher
- 1920s: Makenna —, Reyna #3940 — Reyna higher
- 1930s: Makenna —, Reyna #3831 — Reyna higher
- 1940s: Makenna —, Reyna #3245 — Reyna higher
- 1950s: Makenna —, Reyna #2624 — Reyna higher
- 1960s: Makenna —, Reyna #2264 — Reyna higher
- 1970s: Makenna —, Reyna #1382 — Reyna higher
- 1980s: Makenna #5232, Reyna #898 — Reyna higher
- 1990s: Makenna #1076, Reyna #653 — Reyna higher
- 2000s: Makenna #240, Reyna #612 — Makenna higher
- 2010s: Makenna #282, Reyna #691 — Makenna higher
- 2020s: Makenna #459, Reyna #578 — Makenna higher
Reyna stood higher in 9 of 12 decades; Makenna has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Makenna | Reyna |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #3187 |
| 1920s | — | #3940 |
| 1930s | — | #3831 |
| 1940s | — | #3245 |
| 1950s | — | #2624 |
| 1960s | — | #2264 |
| 1970s | — | #1382 |
| 1980s | #5232 | #898 |
| 1990s | #1076 | #653 |
| 2000s | #240 | #612 |
| 2010s | #282 | #691 |
| 2020s | #459 | #578 |
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.
Reyna
Queen
From Spanish reina, itself from Latin regina, feminine of rex, 'king'. The y-spelling reflects older Spanish orthography, in which reyna was the standard written form.
Regina → Reina → Reyna
How it traveled
The root is Latin regina, the feminine of rex, which passed into Spanish as reina — spelled reyna in older texts, before Spanish standardized the i. As a given name it belongs to the same devotional family as Regina, long used in Catholic Europe in reference to Mary as queen of heaven, and it was also carried by Sephardic Jewish families, for whom Reina was a familiar women's name in Judeo-Spanish.
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.
Reyna
RAY-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish the first syllable is a clean ay diphthong; English speakers usually land on the same sound without being told. Occasional first-guesses of REE-nah happen but are easily corrected.
- Rey — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Rey-Rey — Family and childhood use rather than anything official.
- Reyni — An informal diminutive, more often spoken than written.
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, Reyna 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Kenna, Mak and Kenny
Choose Reyna if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesReyna is 2 syllables to Makenna's 3
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.
Reyna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English and Spanish speakers alike — two syllables, no silent letters, no hidden stress.
- The meaning is transparent rather than reconstructed: anyone who speaks Spanish knows the word.
- Belongs to a large documented family — Regina, Reina, Reine — so it has relatives in several languages.
To consider
- Reina and Reyna are both live spellings, so expect to specify which one, often more than once. Neither is a misspelling of the other, which is exactly why forms and teachers will guess.
- It sits close to Rayna and Raina, names with different roots, and the three get mixed up in writing.
- 'Queen' is a plain, legible meaning to a great many people, not a buried etymology — worth knowing that it will occasionally be remarked on out loud.
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 Reyna 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
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Makenna and Reyna each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Makenna or Reyna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Makenna or Reyna?
- Makenna, in 2025: Makenna ranked #593 with 495 babies; Reyna ranked #594 with 493 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Makenna or Reyna?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Makenna moved down 191 places; Reyna moved down 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Makenna or Reyna?
- Makenna entered the US charts in 1982; Reyna entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Reyna is the older name.
- How many people are named Makenna and Reyna?
- About 33,500 people named Makenna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Reyna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Makennas or Reynas in the classroom?
- Makenna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Reyna 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
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