Head to head · Girls' names
Mary vs Scottie
#125 vs #126 in 2025
Mary is a whisker ahead (#125 vs #126 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Mary is holding its place on the charts, Scottie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Scottie 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, Mary leads 5 measures of 6; Scottie 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: Mary #1, Scottie #921 — Mary higher
- 1890s: Mary #1, Scottie — — Mary higher
- 1900s: Mary #1, Scottie #1713 — Mary higher
- 1910s: Mary #1, Scottie #2497 — Mary higher
- 1920s: Mary #1, Scottie #2979 — Mary higher
- 1930s: Mary #1, Scottie #2403 — Mary higher
- 1940s: Mary #1, Scottie #2042 — Mary higher
- 1950s: Mary #1, Scottie #2453 — Mary higher
- 1960s: Mary #3, Scottie #2801 — Mary higher
- 1970s: Mary #17, Scottie #4027 — Mary higher
- 1980s: Mary #33, Scottie #4737 — Mary higher
- 1990s: Mary #40, Scottie #6727 — Mary higher
- 2000s: Mary #71, Scottie #12364 — Mary higher
- 2010s: Mary #121, Scottie #6663 — Mary higher
- 2020s: Mary #130, Scottie #721 — Mary higher
Mary stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mary | Scottie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1 | #921 |
| 1890s | #1 | — |
| 1900s | #1 | #1713 |
| 1910s | #1 | #2497 |
| 1920s | #1 | #2979 |
| 1930s | #1 | #2403 |
| 1940s | #1 | #2042 |
| 1950s | #1 | #2453 |
| 1960s | #3 | #2801 |
| 1970s | #17 | #4027 |
| 1980s | #33 | #4737 |
| 1990s | #40 | #6727 |
| 2000s | #71 | #12364 |
| 2010s | #121 | #6663 |
| 2020s | #130 | #721 |
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
Mary
Most often read as "bitter" or "beloved"
The name goes back to Hebrew Miryam, and scholars have never agreed on its root. The traditional reading connects it to a Hebrew word for bitterness; others trace it to an Egyptian element meaning "beloved" or "love", which fits the Egyptian setting of the earliest bearer in the Hebrew Bible. "Rebellious" and "wished-for child" have also been proposed. An unusually rich argument for such a short name, and none of the readings has won.
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 translated those scriptures into Greek, they rendered it Mariam and Maria, and the Greek New Testament used the same forms — which is how the name spread with Christianity across the Roman world.
Scottie
a Scot; someone from Scotland
Scottie is the pet form of Scott, from the Old English byname Scott, 'a Gael, a Scot'. The older Latin Scotti first named Gaelic-speaking people of Ireland who settled in what became Scotland.
Scotti → Scott → Scotty → Scottie
How it traveled
The root is a people, not a word for a quality: Latin writers used Scotti for Gaelic speakers from Ireland, some of whom crossed to the west of what is now Scotland, and the name traveled back into English as a byname for such a person. It hardened into a surname, then — as so many British surnames did — into a first name, common enough in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries to earn its own affectionate short forms, Scotty and Scottie.
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
Mary
MAIR-ee
In much of the United States it rhymes with "merry" and "marry", since those vowels have merged for most American speakers. Elsewhere in the English-speaking world the first syllable stays distinct, closer to MAY-ree.
- Molly — An old informal short form of Mary, and long since a standalone given name in its own right.
- Polly — Formed from Molly by the same rhyming shift that gave Peggy from Margaret; now used independently.
- Mae — Also spelled May; used both as a nickname and, very often, as a middle name on its own.
- Mamie — A nursery form common in earlier American generations; rarely given at birth today.
- Also Mimi, Marie.
Scottie
SKOT-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, rhyming with 'dotty'. No one in an English-speaking country will need it spelled out loud — though they may need the -ie ending confirmed.
- Scott — The full form behind the pet name; still widely used as a standalone given name, mostly for men, and an easy formal option on paper.
- Scotty — The other standard spelling of the same short form, used interchangeably in speech and often by an older generation.
- Scots — Informal, family-level shortening; not used in writing.
Who has carried each name
Mary
Mary Shelley (b. 1797) — Wrote Frankenstein at 18
Mary Wollstonecraft (b. 1759) — Wrote the founding text of feminism in 1792
Mary Cassatt (b. 1844) — Impressionist painter of mothers and children
Scottie
No documented entry for Scottie yet.
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 Mary if you want…
- a name holding steadyMary is holding its place on the charts
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Molly, Polly and Mae
- a long American recordMary was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 12% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 68% for Scottie
Choose Scottie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 1,200 places on the charts in five years
- a newer arrivalScottie entered the US charts in 1885
- a name that feels very nowScottie is climbing the charts fast
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
Mary
Strengths
- Spelled and pronounced correctly on first hearing almost everywhere in the English-speaking world.
- One of the longest unbroken records of any name in Europe, in continuous use since antiquity.
- Has a native form in nearly every European language, plus Hebrew and Arabic, so it travels without becoming foreign.
To consider
- The name is inseparable from Christian tradition, above all from the mother of Jesus. For many families that is the reason to choose it; if your family has no connection to that, expect the association to be assumed anyway.
- Its bearers today skew heavily toward older generations, so a child named Mary will likely be the only one in her class while every adult she meets knows the name well — a slightly odd combination of rare and utterly familiar.
- In most American accents it sounds identical to "merry", which occasionally makes for confusion in December.
Scottie
Strengths
- Instantly readable and sayable in English: nobody has to be told how to pronounce it.
- Comes with a ready-made formal option, Scott, if a longer version is ever wanted on a document.
- Fits the large family of -ie names given to both girls and boys — Charlie, Frankie, Bobbie — so it will not sound out of place in a classroom.
To consider
- Scottie and Scotty are both standard, so expect a lifetime of gentle corrections about which ending you use.
- It reads as a nickname to many people. Some will assume there is a longer name behind it and ask what it is short for.
- The Scottish Terrier is called a Scottie, and the Monopoly dog is one. It is a mild, mostly friendly association, but it is there.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Mary
12%chance Mary feels dated by 2040
Mary has held the top-100 across 13 different decades — it has never depended on fashion, and names like that read the same at any age.
Scottie
68%chance Scottie feels dated by 2040
Scottie 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.
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 Mary and Scottie 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 Mary and Scottie?
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 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 Mary and Scottie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mary or Scottie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mary or Scottie?
- Mary, in 2025: Mary ranked #125 with 2,230 babies; Scottie ranked #126 with 2,228 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mary or Scottie?
- Scottie. Over the last five years Mary moved down 2 places; Scottie moved up 1,200 places.
- Which is the older name, Mary or Scottie?
- Mary was already in use when US records began in 1880; Scottie entered the US charts in 1885. On the American record, Mary is the older name.
- How many people are named Mary and Scottie?
- About 1,789,000 people named Mary are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 6,300 people named Scottie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marys or Scotties in the classroom?
- Mary will almost certainly be the only one in school. Scottie 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 Mary, Scottie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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