Head to head · Girls' names
Marie vs Marina
#617 vs #601 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Marina is a whisker ahead (#601 vs #617 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. 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: Marie and Marina 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: Marie #46, Marina #1136 — Marie higher
- 1890s: Marie #15, Marina #1286 — Marie higher
- 1900s: Marie #9, Marina #1518 — Marie higher
- 1910s: Marie #11, Marina #1281 — Marie higher
- 1920s: Marie #17, Marina #982 — Marie higher
- 1930s: Marie #33, Marina #958 — Marie higher
- 1940s: Marie #51, Marina #806 — Marie higher
- 1950s: Marie #89, Marina #687 — Marie higher
- 1960s: Marie #117, Marina #546 — Marie higher
- 1970s: Marie #158, Marina #592 — Marie higher
- 1980s: Marie #170, Marina #502 — Marie higher
- 1990s: Marie #297, Marina #286 — Marina higher
- 2000s: Marie #492, Marina #425 — Marina higher
- 2010s: Marie #587, Marina #657 — Marie higher
- 2020s: Marie #617, Marina #646 — Marie higher
Marie stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Marie has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Marie | Marina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #46 | #1136 |
| 1890s | #15 | #1286 |
| 1900s | #9 | #1518 |
| 1910s | #11 | #1281 |
| 1920s | #17 | #982 |
| 1930s | #33 | #958 |
| 1940s | #51 | #806 |
| 1950s | #89 | #687 |
| 1960s | #117 | #546 |
| 1970s | #158 | #592 |
| 1980s | #170 | #502 |
| 1990s | #297 | #286 |
| 2000s | #492 | #425 |
| 2010s | #587 | #657 |
| 2020s | #617 | #646 |
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
Marie
not established
The name behind this one has attracted more proposed meanings than almost any other — bitterness, beloved, rebellion, a drop of the sea — and none of them can be secured. It may not be Hebrew in origin at all. Honest pages say so and stop.
Miriam → Maria → Marie
How it traveled
The line about cake was not hers. It appears in a book by Rousseau written when the future queen was a child in Vienna, attributed there to an unnamed great princess, and it was decades old before anyone connected it to her.
Marina
Of the sea
From Latin marinus, the adjective formed from mare, "sea" — Marina is its feminine form.
mare (Latin, "sea") → marinus → Marinus → Marina
How it traveled
The name begins as ordinary Latin: marinus, "belonging to the sea," which became the masculine name Marinus and the feminine Marina. Early Christian veneration carried it out of Latin and into Greek and then Slavic use, and it settled deeply into the Orthodox world, where it has been in continuous use for centuries.
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
Marie
muh-REE
Two syllables with the weight at the back in French and in American use alike. German and Czech front the stress instead, saying MAH-ree-eh.
- Mimi — Built from the opening; light, affectionate and used across several languages.
- Rie — The back of the name alone; unusual in English and standard in Danish.
- Mary — The English form of the same name, used interchangeably in many families.
Marina
muh-REE-nuh
Stress falls on the middle syllable. Spanish, Italian and Russian speakers say it with fuller vowels — mah-REE-nah — which is the same name, not a correction.
- Rina — The most common English short form; also used on its own as a given name.
- Mari — Informal, and independently a given name in Spanish, Italian and Japanese contexts.
- Marinka — A Slavic diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than formal.
- Marisha — Russian diminutive (Мариша), used within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Marie if you want…
- a name fewer children share#617 in 2025 — marie will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadyMarie is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMarie is 2 syllables to Marina's 3
- a long American recordMarie was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Marina if you want…
- a name most people already know#601 in 2025, 488 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 103 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMarina runs 3 syllables, Marie 2
- a newer arrivalMarina entered the US charts in 1886
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
Marie
Strengths
- It is recognized in essentially every European language without alteration.
- It is short, soft and completely settled in sound.
- It has been in continuous use for as long as records exist anywhere.
To consider
- No meaning can honestly be given, whatever other pages assert.
- It is extremely common as a middle name, which colors how it is read as a first one.
- The record holds a few boys as well, and the boy is much the smaller side.
Marina
Strengths
- One spelling works in English, Spanish, Italian, Greek and Russian, with no adaptation needed at a border or on a form.
- Reads correctly at first sight for most English speakers, because the word marina is already familiar.
- Long-established short forms — Rina, Mari, Marinka — rather than nicknames someone has to invent.
To consider
- It is also the English word for a boat harbor, so the association is instant and generally pleasant — but the name will occasionally be read as a place before a person.
- Expect a lifetime of small mix-ups with Maria, Mariana and Marine, all of which sound close and none of which are the same name.
- In bilingual families the vowels shift — muh-REE-nuh at school, mah-REE-nah at home. Both are correct, and children who grow up with two versions tend to manage them easily.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Marie
12%chance Marie feels dated by 2040
Marie 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.
Marina
40%chance Marina feels dated by 2040
Marina sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Marie and Marina 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 Marie and Marina?
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 Marie and Marina — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Marie or Marina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Marie or Marina?
- Marina, in 2025: Marina ranked #601 with 488 babies; Marie ranked #617 with 474 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Marie or Marina?
- Marina. Over the last five years Marie is holding its place on the charts; Marina moved up 103 places.
- Which is the older name, Marie or Marina?
- Marie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Marina entered the US charts in 1886. On the American record, Marie is the older name.
- How many people are named Marie and Marina?
- About 186,000 people named Marie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 36,500 people named Marina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Maries or Marinas in the classroom?
- Marie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Marina 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 Marie, Marina 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