Head to head · Girls' names
Mary vs Valerie
#125 vs #127 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Mary is a whisker ahead (#125 vs #127 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
On the charts, Mary leads 5 measures of 6; Valerie 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, Valerie #941 — Mary higher
- 1890s: Mary #1, Valerie #833 — Mary higher
- 1900s: Mary #1, Valerie #726 — Mary higher
- 1910s: Mary #1, Valerie #514 — Mary higher
- 1920s: Mary #1, Valerie #543 — Mary higher
- 1930s: Mary #1, Valerie #334 — Mary higher
- 1940s: Mary #1, Valerie #187 — Mary higher
- 1950s: Mary #1, Valerie #84 — Mary higher
- 1960s: Mary #3, Valerie #71 — Mary higher
- 1970s: Mary #17, Valerie #93 — Mary higher
- 1980s: Mary #33, Valerie #86 — Mary higher
- 1990s: Mary #40, Valerie #146 — Mary higher
- 2000s: Mary #71, Valerie #155 — Mary higher
- 2010s: Mary #121, Valerie #163 — Mary higher
- 2020s: Mary #130, Valerie #144 — Mary higher
Mary stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mary | Valerie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1 | #941 |
| 1890s | #1 | #833 |
| 1900s | #1 | #726 |
| 1910s | #1 | #514 |
| 1920s | #1 | #543 |
| 1930s | #1 | #334 |
| 1940s | #1 | #187 |
| 1950s | #1 | #84 |
| 1960s | #3 | #71 |
| 1970s | #17 | #93 |
| 1980s | #33 | #86 |
| 1990s | #40 | #146 |
| 2000s | #71 | #155 |
| 2010s | #121 | #163 |
| 2020s | #130 | #144 |
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.
Valerie
to be strong; to be in good health
The Roman family name is built on the verb valere, to be strong or well, which also gives English valid, value, valor, convalesce and the farewell vale. The name is an assertion about the family rather than a description of a person.
Valerius → Valeria → Valérie → Valerie
How it traveled
Valerian was captured by the Persian king Shapur in the third century, and he is the only Roman emperor ever taken alive by a foreign enemy. What happened to him afterwards is disputed — Roman sources, written by people with reasons to make it worse, say he was used as a footstool for mounting a horse and eventually flayed and stuffed; Persian sources say nothing of the kind and imply he was held in reasonable conditions with his captured soldiers put to work building a dam in Khuzestan that is still standing.
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.
Valerie
VAL-uh-ree
Three syllables with the stress at the front in English. French puts an accent on the second e and stresses the last syllable, so the French and English versions of the same spelling sound quite different.
- Val — The front of the name, and a familiar form for either sex.
- Vallie — The affectionate form, built on the same front.
- Lerie — Cut from the back, which sounds unrelated to the whole.
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
Valerie
Valerie Bertinelli (b. 1960) — Beloved sitcom star and Food Network host
Valerie Harper (b. 1939) — TV's Rhoda
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
- a name with fewer syllablesMary is 2 syllables to Valerie's 3
- 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
Choose Valerie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 17 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itValerie runs 3 syllables, Mary 2
- a newer arrivalValerie entered the US charts in 1884
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.
Valerie
Strengths
- Val comes off it at once and works in any setting.
- The meaning is documented and positive without being abstract.
- It exists across most of Europe, so it travels without being rebuilt.
To consider
- It has been common for several decades, so a classroom may hold more than one.
- Valarie and Valeri are both recorded and will be written for it.
- The French original stresses it differently, which matters in a bilingual family.
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 Mary and Valerie 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 Valerie?
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 Valerie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mary or Valerie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mary or Valerie?
- Mary, in 2025: Mary ranked #125 with 2,230 babies; Valerie ranked #127 with 2,221 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mary or Valerie?
- Valerie. Over the last five years Mary moved down 2 places; Valerie moved up 17 places.
- Which is the older name, Mary or Valerie?
- Mary was already in use when US records began in 1880; Valerie entered the US charts in 1884. On the American record, Mary is the older name.
- How many people are named Mary and Valerie?
- About 1,789,000 people named Mary are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 244,000 people named Valerie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Marys or Valeries in the classroom?
- Mary will almost certainly be the only one in school. Valerie 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, Valerie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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