Head to head · Girls' names
Marigold vs Mina
#590 vs #595 in 2025
Marigold is a whisker ahead (#590 vs #595 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Marigold is climbing the charts fast, Mina is holding its place on the charts.
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: Marigold and Mina 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: Marigold —, Mina #217 — Mina higher
- 1890s: Marigold —, Mina #278 — Mina higher
- 1900s: Marigold —, Mina #391 — Mina higher
- 1910s: Marigold #4809, Mina #501 — Mina higher
- 1920s: Marigold #4136, Mina #653 — Mina higher
- 1930s: Marigold #4158, Mina #734 — Mina higher
- 1940s: Marigold #3954, Mina #966 — Mina higher
- 1950s: Marigold —, Mina #1328 — Mina higher
- 1960s: Marigold —, Mina #1582 — Mina higher
- 1970s: Marigold #8358, Mina #2042 — Mina higher
- 1980s: Marigold —, Mina #1818 — Mina higher
- 1990s: Marigold #13927, Mina #1449 — Mina higher
- 2000s: Marigold #12649, Mina #972 — Mina higher
- 2010s: Marigold #4639, Mina #756 — Mina higher
- 2020s: Marigold #820, Mina #609 — Mina higher
Mina stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Marigold | Mina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #217 |
| 1890s | — | #278 |
| 1900s | — | #391 |
| 1910s | #4809 | #501 |
| 1920s | #4136 | #653 |
| 1930s | #4158 | #734 |
| 1940s | #3954 | #966 |
| 1950s | — | #1328 |
| 1960s | — | #1582 |
| 1970s | #8358 | #2042 |
| 1980s | — | #1818 |
| 1990s | #13927 | #1449 |
| 2000s | #12649 | #972 |
| 2010s | #4639 | #756 |
| 2020s | #820 | #609 |
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
Marigold
Mary's gold — the golden flower associated with the Virgin Mary
The plant was called simply golde in Old English; Mary was added in medieval England, dedicating the flower to the Virgin. As a given name, the reading people use is the flower itself.
golde (Old English name for the flower) → Mary gold (medieval English) → Marigold
How it traveled
The flower name came first: golde in Old English, lengthened to "Mary gold" by medieval English speakers who dedicated the bright calendula to the Virgin Mary. It became a name for daughters in the flower-name wave of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and L.
Mina
Depends on the road: Persian 'enamel, azure glass'; as a European short form, it carries the meaning of the longer name behind it
Mina is not one name with a disputed meaning so much as several names that met at one spelling. In German, Dutch and Scandinavian use it is a clipped form of Wilhelmina (from Germanic elements for 'will' and 'helmet, protection') or of Hermina. In Persian, mina is a word for blue enamel or glasswork, and also names a flower. In Japanese it is written with various character combinations, each giving its own sense — commonly 'beautiful' plus another element. In the Balkans it also serves as a short form of Milena, and in Arabic-speaking families as one of Amina.
Willahelm → Wilhelmina → Mina
How it traveled
The European Mina is a worn-down Wilhelmina, a name that spread through German and Dutch households and traveled with them; the full form was heavy and the short form did all the daily work. Bram Stoker gave the pairing to English readers in Dracula, where Wilhelmina Murray goes by Mina throughout.
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
Marigold
MAR-ih-gold
Stress on the first syllable. Some speakers say MARE-ih-gold; both are ordinary and neither needs correcting.
- Mari — The most common everyday shortening; also stands alone as a given name in Welsh and Japanese.
- Goldie — Informal, drawn from the second half; used as an independent name in its own right.
- Mary — Formal-sounding fallback for the first syllables, and a full given name with a much longer record.
- Gigi — Playful family nickname rather than a shortening anyone would guess from the spelling.
Mina
MEE-nuh
MEE-nuh is the usual reading in English, Persian, Japanese and Korean use. Older German and Dutch families may say MIN-uh, closer to Minna, and a few English speakers guess MY-nuh on first sight. One correction usually settles it.
- Minnie — The long-established English pet form of Mina and Wilhelmina; also used as a given name in its own right.
- Min — Informal, family-level shortening; rarely written down.
- Mimi — Affectionate form, more common in French- and Italian-speaking use, and a standalone name too.
- Minka — Diminutive found in Dutch and Slavic use, and independently a given name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Marigold if you want…
- a name on the way upup 503 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itMarigold runs 3 syllables, Mina 2
- a newer arrivalMarigold entered the US charts in 1918
Choose Mina if you want…
- a name holding steadyMina is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesMina is 2 syllables to Marigold's 3
- a long American recordMina 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
Marigold
Strengths
- Everyone already knows the spelling, because everyone knows the flower — no repeating letters over the phone.
- Two ready-made short forms in real use, Mari and Goldie, which sit at opposite ends of formality.
- Documented in English since the Middle Ages as a word, and in use as a given name since the flower-name era.
To consider
- It is a word before it is a name, so it will draw garden comments, jokes about marigolds in the border, and the occasional "like the flower" all her life. Word-names come with that attached.
- Three syllables and eight letters is a lot of name to write on a worksheet in kindergarten. The short forms will do real work in those years.
- Its American wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying it right now is a child. That means few adult namesakes to point to — and also that it does not sound borrowed from any particular decade.
Mina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and phonetic on the page — most people spell it right the first time after hearing it once.
- Works unchanged in German, Dutch, Persian, Japanese, Korean and Serbian, which is rare for a name this short.
- Stands on its own as a full given name, but also sits ready as the short form of Wilhelmina or Amina if you want a longer name on the certificate.
To consider
- It lives among close neighbors: Mia, Nina, Tina and Mila are all in heavy use, and Mina will occasionally be heard or written as one of them. Repeating it is usually enough.
- Because the same spelling arrives from Persian, East Asian and Germanic roots, people may assume a background your family does not have — sometimes an interesting conversation, sometimes a tiring one.
- MEE-nuh and MIN-uh both have real claim to the spelling, so expect to state your preference now and then.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Marigold
57%chance Marigold feels dated by 2040
Marigold is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Mina
40%chance Mina feels dated by 2040
Mina 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 Marigold and Mina 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 Marigold and Mina?
Put both to the vote.
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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 these names appear on
- Flower names in full bloom
- Cottagecore names from a storybook garden
- Spring names, fresh from the thaw
- Autumn names in amber and gold
- all guides
Where Marigold and Mina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Marigold or Mina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Marigold or Mina?
- Marigold, in 2025: Marigold ranked #590 with 498 babies; Mina ranked #595 with 491 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Marigold or Mina?
- Marigold. Over the last five years Marigold moved up 503 places; Mina moved up 66 places.
- Which is the older name, Marigold or Mina?
- Marigold entered the US charts in 1918; Mina was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Mina is the older name.
- How many people are named Marigold and Mina?
- About 2,900 people named Marigold are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,000 people named Mina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marigolds or Minas in the classroom?
- Marigold will almost certainly be the only one in school. Mina 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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