Head to head · Girls' names
Mara vs Mckenzie
#587 vs #576 in 2025
Mckenzie is a whisker ahead (#576 vs #587 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mckenzie is stepping back from its peak, Mara is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Mara 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, Mckenzie leads 4 measures of 6; Mara leads 2.
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
- 1890s: Mara #1278, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1910s: Mara #2931, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1920s: Mara #2717, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1930s: Mara #2299, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1940s: Mara #1539, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1950s: Mara #812, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1960s: Mara #731, Mckenzie — — Mara higher
- 1970s: Mara #632, Mckenzie #3011 — Mara higher
- 1980s: Mara #700, Mckenzie #924 — Mara higher
- 1990s: Mara #596, Mckenzie #233 — Mckenzie higher
- 2000s: Mara #678, Mckenzie #151 — Mckenzie higher
- 2010s: Mara #737, Mckenzie #165 — Mckenzie higher
- 2020s: Mara #590, Mckenzie #412 — Mckenzie higher
Mara stood higher in 9 of 13 decades; Mckenzie has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mara | Mckenzie |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1278 | — |
| 1910s | #2931 | — |
| 1920s | #2717 | — |
| 1930s | #2299 | — |
| 1940s | #1539 | — |
| 1950s | #812 | — |
| 1960s | #731 | — |
| 1970s | #632 | #3011 |
| 1980s | #700 | #924 |
| 1990s | #596 | #233 |
| 2000s | #678 | #151 |
| 2010s | #737 | #165 |
| 2020s | #590 | #412 |
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
Mara
Either "bitter" in Hebrew, or a short form of Maria
Two serious readings sit side by side. In Hebrew, mara/marah means bitter — in Ruth 1:20 the widowed Naomi tells the women of Bethlehem to call her Mara instead of Naomi. Quite separately, Mara is the ordinary clipped form of Marija/Maria in the South Slavic languages, Hungarian, Romanian and Italian, and there the meaning is simply whatever Maria means, itself unsettled ground. Neither road borrowed from the other; they simply arrived at the same four letters.
Miryam → Maria → Marija → Mara
How it traveled
The oldest documented appearance is scriptural: in the first chapter of the Book of Ruth, Naomi comes home to Bethlehem after burying her husband and sons and asks to be called Mara, bitter, instead of Naomi, pleasant. That verse kept the form in print through every English Bible for centuries.
Mckenzie
son of Coinneach — Coinneach meaning "comely, handsome"
From Scottish Gaelic Mac Coinnich. You will sometimes see "born of fire" attached to the name online; that belongs to Cináed (Kenneth), a separate Gaelic name that English confusingly folded into the same anglicization.
Coinneach → Mac Coinnich → MacKenȝie → Mackenzie → Mckenzie
How it traveled
" In Older Scots the final Gaelic sound was written with the letter yogh, giving MacKenȝie, pronounced roughly mac-KEN-yee; when printers substituted z for a letter their type cases lacked, the spelling froze and the pronunciation followed it. Scottish and Ulster emigration carried the surname to North America, Australia and New Zealand, where it also settled onto rivers, towns and a Canadian river system.
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
Mara
MAH-rah
MAH-rah is the usual American reading, with the first syllable like the start of "marble". Some families say MARR-ah, rhyming the first part with "marry", and both are established. Worth deciding early, because strangers will guess either one.
- Mara — In South Slavic, Hungarian and Romanian usage Mara is itself the nickname, standing in for a formal Marija or Maria; in American records it is the full given name.
- Mar — Informal clipping used mainly by family and close friends; not used as a given name on its own.
- Mars — An informal, playful shortening heard among younger speakers; does not appear as a standalone given name for girls.
- Marica — Croatian diminutive built on Mara, formal only in the sense that it is registered as a given name in its own right there.
Mckenzie
muh-KEN-zee
Three syllables, stress in the middle. The opening Mc is reduced almost to a hum — muh, not mack — though some families say MACK-en-zee, and both are heard.
- Kenzie — By far the most used short form, and common enough on its own to appear in US records as an independent given name.
- Kenz — Informal, mostly spoken among friends rather than written.
- Mac — Informal; draws on the surname element rather than the whole name, and is used for bearers of either sex.
- Kenzi — A written variant of Kenzie, seen in informal and social-media use.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mara if you want…
- a name fewer children share#587 in 2025 — mara will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 39 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMara is 2 syllables to Mckenzie's 3
Choose Mckenzie if you want…
- a name most people already know#576 in 2025, 517 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsMckenzie is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itMckenzie runs 3 syllables, Mara 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
Mara
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and spelled the way it is written — most people get it right on the first try, in writing and aloud.
- The same four letters work unchanged in Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian and Italian, which makes it easy across families and borders.
- A documented record reaching back to the Book of Ruth, and unbroken use in American records for well over a century.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, MAH-rah and MARR-ah, mean a lifetime of gentle correcting for whichever one you choose.
- It sits close to Maria, Marah, Maura, Mira and Sara, so expect the occasional misheard or mistyped version — especially over the phone.
- If the Hebrew reading matters to you, know that in Ruth the word is chosen precisely to mean bitter; many families are drawn to the passage anyway, for Naomi's honesty rather than her grief.
Mckenzie
Strengths
- Kenzie is an established, ready-made short form that already stands alone as a name, so the child has a full option and a casual one from day one.
- Pronunciation is transparent to English speakers: nobody has to be taught how to say it.
- The underlying surname is familiar across the US, Canada, Britain, Australia and New Zealand, on people, rivers and towns alike.
To consider
- The spelling is the hard part. Mackenzie, McKenzie, MacKenzie, Makenzie and Mckenzie all circulate, and this one will need spelling out and correcting for life — including the capital K that forms and autocorrect keep adding back.
- As a surname it travels to boys as well as girls, and in the US the spelling has settled heavily on girls. A boy called Mckenzie will read as surname-style rather than unusual, but expect the occasional assumption.
- It is unmistakably a surname-turned-first-name, which sits well with some family surnames and clashes with others. Say the full combination aloud a few times before deciding.
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 Mara and Mckenzie 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 Mara and Mckenzie?
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 head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- Star Wars names in the American record
- Eight-letter names with presence
- Names with a Z in them
- all guides
Where Mara and Mckenzie each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mara or Mckenzie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mara or Mckenzie?
- Mckenzie, in 2025: Mckenzie ranked #576 with 517 babies; Mara ranked #587 with 499 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mara or Mckenzie?
- Mara. Over the last five years Mara moved up 39 places; Mckenzie moved down 298 places.
- Which is the older name, Mara or Mckenzie?
- Mara entered the US charts in 1892; Mckenzie entered the US charts in 1975. On the American record, Mara is the older name.
- How many people are named Mara and Mckenzie?
- About 23,000 people named Mara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 64,000 people named Mckenzie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maras or Mckenzies in the classroom?
- Mara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mckenzie 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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