Head to head · Girls' names
Mara vs Meilani
#587 vs #590 in 2025
Mara is a whisker ahead (#587 vs #590 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mara is holding its place on the charts, Meilani is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Meilani 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, Mara leads 5 measures of 6; Meilani 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
- 1890s: Mara #1278, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1910s: Mara #2931, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1920s: Mara #2717, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1930s: Mara #2299, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1940s: Mara #1539, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1950s: Mara #812, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1960s: Mara #731, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1970s: Mara #632, Meilani — — Mara higher
- 1980s: Mara #700, Meilani #7757 — Mara higher
- 1990s: Mara #596, Meilani #8482 — Mara higher
- 2000s: Mara #678, Meilani #5807 — Mara higher
- 2010s: Mara #737, Meilani #3066 — Mara higher
- 2020s: Mara #590, Meilani #863 — Mara higher
Mara stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mara | Meilani |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1278 | — |
| 1910s | #2931 | — |
| 1920s | #2717 | — |
| 1930s | #2299 | — |
| 1940s | #1539 | — |
| 1950s | #812 | — |
| 1960s | #731 | — |
| 1970s | #632 | — |
| 1980s | #700 | #7757 |
| 1990s | #596 | #8482 |
| 2000s | #678 | #5807 |
| 2010s | #737 | #3066 |
| 2020s | #590 | #863 |
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.
Meilani
Second element: Hawaiian lani, "heaven, sky, royal"; the first element is read more than one way
The -lani half is not in doubt. The Mei- half is read two ways: as Hawaiian mei, and as Chinese 美 (měi), "beautiful" — a reading that fits families where the two languages meet. A third possibility is simpler still: Meilani as a reshaping of Leilani, or a meeting of Melanie with the -lani names. No one of these has been established over the others.
How it traveled
The name's second half is genuinely and demonstrably Hawaiian: lani, meaning heaven, sky, or that which is royal and exalted, one of the most productive elements in the Hawaiian naming tradition. Names carrying it — Leilani above all — traveled from the islands into mainland American use across the twentieth century, and once a pattern is familiar, new names grow on it.
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.
Meilani
may-LAH-nee
Both the Hawaiian and Mandarin readings of the first syllable land close to "may". Some families say mye-LAH-nee. Stress sits on the second syllable either way.
- Lani — The most common short form, and a given name in its own right in American records.
- Mei — Used by families who read the first syllable as the Chinese element; also a standalone given name.
- Mei-Mei — Informal, household use, mostly for small children.
- Lanie — Informal English-style spelling of the short form.
- Also Mel.
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 holding steadyMara is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMara is 2 syllables to Meilani's 3
Choose Meilani if you want…
- a name on the way upup 299 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMeilani 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.
Meilani
Strengths
- The -lani ending is already familiar from Leilani, so most English speakers place the name and its rhythm on first hearing.
- It reads as it sounds for English speakers: three syllables, no silent letters, no competing pronunciations to explain.
- Two ready short forms that already stand alone as names in their own right: Lani and Mei.
To consider
- It will be heard as Leilani, and written as Melani, Meilany or Melanie, more often than you would like. A short spelling-out becomes routine.
- The meaning is genuinely unsettled in its first half. If you want a name whose translation you can state in one line, this one asks you to pick a reading and know it is a choice.
- Meilani is a recent coinage on a Hawaiian pattern rather than a traditional Hawaiian name. That matters to some families with island ties, and is worth knowing before someone else mentions it.
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 Meilani 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 Meilani?
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
Where Mara and Meilani each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mara or Meilani — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mara or Meilani?
- Mara, in 2025: Mara ranked #587 with 499 babies; Meilani ranked #590 with 498 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mara or Meilani?
- Meilani. Over the last five years Mara moved up 39 places; Meilani moved up 299 places.
- Which is the older name, Mara or Meilani?
- Mara entered the US charts in 1892; Meilani entered the US charts in 1982. On the American record, Mara is the older name.
- How many people are named Mara and Meilani?
- About 23,000 people named Mara are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 3,900 people named Meilani are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maras or Meilanis in the classroom?
- Mara will almost certainly be the only one in school. Meilani 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 Mara, Meilani and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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