Head to head · Girls' names
Maria vs Natalie
#87 vs #89 in 2025
Maria is a whisker ahead (#87 vs #89 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Maria is back after a long quiet spell, Natalie is stepping back from its peak.
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, Maria leads 4 measures of 6; Natalie 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
- 1880s: Maria #137, Natalie #571 — Maria higher
- 1890s: Maria #149, Natalie #476 — Maria higher
- 1900s: Maria #143, Natalie #435 — Maria higher
- 1910s: Maria #140, Natalie #291 — Maria higher
- 1920s: Maria #119, Natalie #252 — Maria higher
- 1930s: Maria #116, Natalie #280 — Maria higher
- 1940s: Maria #90, Natalie #355 — Maria higher
- 1950s: Maria #69, Natalie #368 — Maria higher
- 1960s: Maria #46, Natalie #180 — Maria higher
- 1970s: Maria #34, Natalie #109 — Maria higher
- 1980s: Maria #48, Natalie #57 — Maria higher
- 1990s: Maria #43, Natalie #53 — Maria higher
- 2000s: Maria #48, Natalie #22 — Natalie higher
- 2010s: Maria #106, Natalie #26 — Natalie higher
- 2020s: Maria #91, Natalie #65 — Natalie higher
Maria stood higher in 12 of 15 decades; Natalie has held the lead since the 2000s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Maria | Natalie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #137 | #571 |
| 1890s | #149 | #476 |
| 1900s | #143 | #435 |
| 1910s | #140 | #291 |
| 1920s | #119 | #252 |
| 1930s | #116 | #280 |
| 1940s | #90 | #355 |
| 1950s | #69 | #368 |
| 1960s | #46 | #180 |
| 1970s | #34 | #109 |
| 1980s | #48 | #57 |
| 1990s | #43 | #53 |
| 2000s | #48 | #22 |
| 2010s | #106 | #26 |
| 2020s | #91 | #65 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Maria
- France#60
- Canada#72
- England & Wales#91
Natalie
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Maria
Uncertain; the leading readings are 'beloved' and 'bitter'
Maria descends from Hebrew Miryam, whose origin was already unclear to ancient commentators. Some scholars trace it to Egyptian mry, 'beloved', which fits a name borne in a period of Egyptian influence; an older tradition read it through Hebrew mar, 'bitter'. The familiar 'star of the sea' gloss comes from a medieval Latin reading of the name as stella maris and is not an etymology of the Hebrew.
Miryam → Mariam → Maria → Marie → Mary
How it traveled
The name begins as Miryam in the Hebrew Bible, borne by the sister of Moses. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated those scriptures into Greek, they wrote it Mariam, and Greek and Latin writers settled on Maria — the spelling the Latin New Testament carried into every corner of the Roman world.
Natalie
of the birthday
The Latin adjective behind it refers to a birth, and the name was given in connection with a particular one. The reading is settled and has not been disputed.
Natalia → Nathalie → Natalie
How it traveled
Latin made the name Natalia, and French wore the ending away to produce Natalie, which is the form English borrowed. The Latin original went east as well and is still Natalya in Russian, so the name has two living branches that sound quite different.
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
Maria
muh-REE-uh
Spanish and Italian speakers say mah-REE-ah, with a cleaner first vowel and a trilled or tapped r. An older English pronunciation, muh-RY-uh, survives in some hymn and song traditions and in a few families, so it is worth stating your preference once and letting it settle.
- Mia — Informal short form and, for a long time now, a fully independent given name in its own right.
- Ria — Informal; common in Dutch, German and Indonesian usage, and used on its own as a given name in several countries.
- Mari — Informal in English-speaking families; a standard given name in Welsh, Norwegian and Japanese, where it has separate roots.
- Masha — The standard Russian familiar form of Mariya, used within families and among friends rather than formally.
- Also Maruja, Mimi.
Natalie
NAT-uh-lee
Three syllables with the stress in front. The French form has an h and is said nah-tah-LEE, with the weight at the end.
- Nat — The front of the name used alone; works for a child of either sex.
- Tally — Built from the back of the name; used informally.
- Natasha — The Russian affectionate form, now an independent name in English.
Who has carried each name
Maria
Maria Montessori (b. 1870) — Physician who created the Montessori method of education
Maria Callas (b. 1923) — The century's most famous opera diva
Maria Goeppert Mayer (b. 1906) — Nobel Prize-winning physicist
Natalie
Natalie Portman (b. 1981) — Oscar winner (Black Swan) with a Harvard degree
Natalie Wood (b. 1938) — Star of West Side Story and Rebel Without a Cause
Natalie Cole (b. 1950) — Grammy-winning singer, Nat King Cole's daughter
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Maria if you want…
- a name on the way upup 22 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Mia, Ria and Mari
- a name that charts abroad tooMaria is on the national lists of France, Canada and England & Wales
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 82% for Natalie
Choose Natalie if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsNatalie is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowNatalie is stepping back from its peak
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
Maria
Strengths
- Spelled the same way in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and German — no explaining, no correcting, in most of the languages a family is likely to meet.
- Currently charts in France, Canada and England and Wales as well as the United States, so it travels without becoming a foreign name anywhere.
- Two thousand years of unbroken written use, and it still turns up on class lists — long history without feeling like a costume.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate in English, muh-REE-uh and the older muh-RY-uh. Most people will default to the first, but expect to correct the occasional stranger either way.
- The link to the Virgin Mary is direct and unmistakable, which many families want and some would rather avoid. It is not a connotation the name can shed.
- In Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking families the name is so widespread, often in compounds like María José, that there may already be a Maria or two among the relatives.
Natalie
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and easy to explain in a few words.
- It has established forms in French, Russian, Spanish and German, so it travels without translation.
- Nat and Tally are both available as short forms and both are comfortable.
To consider
- Nathalie and Natalee are both in the record, so the spelling will be checked back with you.
- This spelling goes overwhelmingly to girls but is recorded for boys as well, so a form will occasionally guess wrong.
- The meaning is tied to a particular feast, which matters to some families and to no others.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Maria
12%chance Maria feels dated by 2040
Maria has held the top-100 across 8 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Natalie
82%chance Natalie feels dated by 2040
Natalie is coming down from a big peak (#13 in 2008). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Maria and Natalie 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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Maria and Natalie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Maria or Natalie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Maria or Natalie?
- Maria, in 2025: Maria ranked #87 with 2,887 babies; Natalie ranked #89 with 2,736 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Maria or Natalie?
- Maria. Over the last five years Maria moved up 22 places; Natalie moved down 38 places.
- Which is the older name, Maria or Natalie?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Maria and Natalie?
- About 470,000 people named Maria are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 354,000 people named Natalie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marias or Natalies in the classroom?
- Maria will almost certainly be the only one in school. Natalie 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
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