Head to head · Girls' names
Mallory vs Matilda
#372 vs #364 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
Matilda is a whisker ahead (#364 vs #372 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. 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
The tape is even: Mallory and Matilda 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: Mallory —, Matilda #110 — Matilda higher
- 1890s: Mallory —, Matilda #138 — Matilda higher
- 1900s: Mallory —, Matilda #178 — Matilda higher
- 1910s: Mallory —, Matilda #235 — Matilda higher
- 1920s: Mallory —, Matilda #300 — Matilda higher
- 1930s: Mallory #4296, Matilda #470 — Matilda higher
- 1940s: Mallory #3061, Matilda #690 — Matilda higher
- 1950s: Mallory #2159, Matilda #895 — Matilda higher
- 1960s: Mallory #2698, Matilda #1106 — Matilda higher
- 1970s: Mallory #2996, Matilda #1649 — Matilda higher
- 1980s: Mallory #1080, Matilda #2757 — Mallory higher
- 1990s: Mallory #183, Matilda #2921 — Mallory higher
- 2000s: Mallory #234, Matilda #1502 — Mallory higher
- 2010s: Mallory #410, Matilda #594 — Mallory higher
- 2020s: Mallory #477, Matilda #429 — Matilda higher
Matilda stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Matilda took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mallory | Matilda |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #110 |
| 1890s | — | #138 |
| 1900s | — | #178 |
| 1910s | — | #235 |
| 1920s | — | #300 |
| 1930s | #4296 | #470 |
| 1940s | #3061 | #690 |
| 1950s | #2159 | #895 |
| 1960s | #2698 | #1106 |
| 1970s | #2996 | #1649 |
| 1980s | #1080 | #2757 |
| 1990s | #183 | #2921 |
| 2000s | #234 | #1502 |
| 2010s | #410 | #594 |
| 2020s | #477 | #429 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Mallory
Not charting outside the US.
Matilda
- England & Wales#31
- Scotland#93
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Mallory
unlucky, or ill-omened
The surname comes from Old French, from a word for the unfortunate or the ill-fated, and it was almost certainly a nickname before it was a family name — the sort of thing a village calls a man behind his back. Surnames are not chosen the way first names are, which is why unflattering ones survive: nobody signed up for it, they just inherited it. That history is worth knowing and not worth worrying about. No modern Mallory is being called unlucky by anyone; the word stopped carrying its sense the moment it became a family name.
an Old French nickname for the unlucky → an English surname from the Norman period on → Sir Thomas Malory's Arthur printed in 1485 → a mountaineer lost on Everest in 1924 → a sitcom daughter turns it into a girls' first name
How it traveled
The most quoted sentence in mountaineering was an Englishman named Mallory getting rid of a reporter. Asked in New York why he wanted to climb Everest, George Mallory said it was because it is there — a brush-off that has been read ever since as a philosophy.
Matilda
mighty in battle
From the Germanic elements *maht* "might, strength" and *hild* "battle", combined in the old name Mahthildis.
Mahthildis → Mathilde → Matilda → Maud
How it traveled
The name began as Germanic Mahthildis and was borne by a tenth-century German queen later honored as a saint. It reached England in Latin form after 1066 with Matilda of Flanders, wife of William the Conqueror, and was carried by their granddaughter Empress Matilda, whose claim to the English crown set off the civil war of the twelfth century.
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
Mallory
MAL-uh-ree
Three syllables with the weight at the front, and the middle one almost disappears. Some speakers say MAL-ree, which is how the surname was pronounced in England for centuries.
- Mal — Short, blunt and used by nearly everyone who knows her well.
- Lory — Takes the back half; sounds like Laurie and is often written that way by mistake.
- Mally — A family form more than a public one, and it tends not to survive school.
Matilda
muh-TIL-duh
Stress on the middle syllable. The German and French Mathilde is closer to ma-TILL-duh or ma-TEELD, if relatives abroad reach for that version.
- Tilly — The most common short form in British and Australian use, and given independently as a full name too.
- Tillie — Older American spelling of the same short form; also stands alone as a given name.
- Mattie — Informal, long-established in American use, shared with Martha and Matthew.
- Tilda — Used on its own in Scandinavia as well as as a short form of Matilda.
- Also Maud.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mallory if you want…
- a name on the way upup 193 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalMallory entered the US charts in 1938
Choose Matilda if you want…
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Tilly, Tillie and Mattie
- a name that charts abroad tooMatilda is on the national lists of England & Wales and Scotland
- a long American recordMatilda 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
Mallory
Strengths
- It is a surname-name that has been fully naturalized as a first name, so it sounds neither borrowed nor invented.
- It works on a child and on an adult, which is more than can be said for most names that arrived from television.
- Everyone can spell it after hearing it once, and the double l is the only thing to check.
To consider
- The name is dated to its decade for anyone over forty, who will hear the sitcom before they hear anything else.
- The literal sense of the surname is unflattering, and a child who looks it up will find that out.
- Mallory and Mallorie both chart, so she will occasionally have to correct the ending.
Matilda
Strengths
- An unbroken record in English since the Norman Conquest — long past the point where any fashion cycle can date it.
- Recognizable in German, French, Italian, Spanish, Polish and Scandinavian forms, so it travels without translation.
- Several established short forms already in real use — Tilly, Tillie, Mattie, Tilda — none of which need explaining.
To consider
- Roald Dahl's novel and its film and stage versions are the first thing many people will mention. It is affectionate rather than awkward, but expect it often.
- Mathilda, Mathilde and Matilde are all real spellings elsewhere, so the double-check question will come up on forms and rosters for life.
- The full name is still strongly represented among the oldest generations in the US, which is exactly what makes it read as vintage now — worth knowing if you would rather a name with no grandmotherly echo at all.
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 Mallory and Matilda 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 Mallory and Matilda?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Mallory and Matilda — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mallory or Matilda — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mallory or Matilda?
- Matilda, in 2025: Matilda ranked #364 with 838 babies; Mallory ranked #372 with 825 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mallory or Matilda?
- Mallory. Over the last five years Mallory moved up 193 places; Matilda moved up 114 places.
- Which is the older name, Mallory or Matilda?
- Mallory entered the US charts in 1938; Matilda was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Matilda is the older name.
- How many people are named Mallory and Matilda?
- About 58,000 people named Mallory are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 16,000 people named Matilda are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mallorys or Matildas in the classroom?
- Mallory will almost certainly be the only one in school. Matilda will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Mallory, Matilda and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap