Head to head · Girls' names
Mckenna vs Melissa
#410 vs #419 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Mckenna is a whisker ahead (#410 vs #419 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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, Melissa leads 3 measures of 6; Mckenna leads 2.
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: Mckenna —, Melissa #301 — Melissa higher
- 1890s: Mckenna —, Melissa #452 — Melissa higher
- 1900s: Mckenna —, Melissa #626 — Melissa higher
- 1910s: Mckenna —, Melissa #825 — Melissa higher
- 1920s: Mckenna —, Melissa #1048 — Melissa higher
- 1930s: Mckenna —, Melissa #882 — Melissa higher
- 1940s: Mckenna —, Melissa #514 — Melissa higher
- 1950s: Mckenna —, Melissa #171 — Melissa higher
- 1960s: Mckenna —, Melissa #47 — Melissa higher
- 1970s: Mckenna #8367, Melissa #5 — Melissa higher
- 1980s: Mckenna #2145, Melissa #10 — Melissa higher
- 1990s: Mckenna #482, Melissa #37 — Melissa higher
- 2000s: Mckenna #205, Melissa #105 — Melissa higher
- 2010s: Mckenna #244, Melissa #237 — Melissa higher
- 2020s: Mckenna #334, Melissa #385 — Mckenna higher
Melissa stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Mckenna took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mckenna | Melissa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #301 |
| 1890s | — | #452 |
| 1900s | — | #626 |
| 1910s | — | #825 |
| 1920s | — | #1048 |
| 1930s | — | #882 |
| 1940s | — | #514 |
| 1950s | — | #171 |
| 1960s | — | #47 |
| 1970s | #8367 | #5 |
| 1980s | #2145 | #10 |
| 1990s | #482 | #37 |
| 2000s | #205 | #105 |
| 2010s | #244 | #237 |
| 2020s | #334 | #385 |
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
Mckenna
son of Cionaodh — a Gaelic given name built on the fire element Aodh
The surname derivation from Mac Cionaoith (older Mac Cionaodha) is well established. Cionaodh itself is the Irish counterpart of the Scottish Cinaed, the name behind Kenneth, and is usually read as 'born of fire'.
Aodh → Cionaodh → Mac Cionaoith → McKenna → Mckenna
How it traveled
The name starts in Irish as Mac Cionaoith, a patronymic surname of medieval Ulster; the McKennas were chiefs in the Truagh country of County Monaghan. Emigration carried it to Britain, North America and Australia, where the Gaelic Mac was flattened into Mc and the spelling settled into McKenna.
Melissa
bee
The Greek melissa is the ordinary word for a honeybee, from the word for honey. It is a common noun used as a name, which is rarer than it sounds.
melissa → Melissa
How it traveled
Very few Greek common nouns became English names. Most of what English took from Greek came through the church or through mythology, arriving as the names of people; a word for an insect is a different kind of borrowing, and it needed a reason.
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
Mckenna
muh-KEN-uh
Three syllables with the weight on the middle one; the opening Mc is an unstressed 'muh'. Some speakers say mick-KEN-uh, closer to the surname.
- Kenna — The usual short form, and a given name in its own right in Scotland and the US.
- Mac — Informal, from the first syllable; shared with the whole family of Mc- surnames.
- Kenny — Informal and mostly family-only; better known as a short form of Kenneth.
- Kens — Casual, friend-level clipping of Kenna.
Melissa
muh-LISS-uh
Three syllables with the weight in the middle. Said essentially the same way in English, Italian and modern Greek.
- Missy — The affectionate form; a standing informal name in American use.
- Lissa — Cut from the back; a standing name of its own.
- Mel — Cut from the front; used for women and men both.
- Mellie — An older affectionate form; used inside families.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mckenna if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMckenna is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalMckenna entered the US charts in 1972
Choose Melissa if you want…
- a long American recordMelissa 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
Mckenna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English speakers — the Mc- surname pattern is already familiar from names like Mackenzie.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Kenna, which also works as a full name on paper.
- A documented Gaelic surname with centuries of record behind it, not a recent coinage.
To consider
- The spelling will need saying out loud often: Mckenna, McKenna, Mackenna and Makenna all circulate, and many people default to the interior capital K when writing it down.
- It sits close to Mackenzie, Makayla and Mikayla in sound, so mishearings and mix-ups are likely at roll call.
- As a surname-name it rose over a fairly narrow stretch of decades, which gives it a clear generational stamp — most people who share it are young adults now rather than children.
Melissa
Strengths
- It is spelled and said nearly identically across English, Italian, Spanish and Greek.
- The meaning is concrete, pleasant and among the shortest any name carries.
- It carries four established short forms with quite different characters.
To consider
- It is heavily generation-marked to the nineteen-seventies and eighties.
- Melisa and Mellissa are both in the record and will be written for you.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of boys, though it reads overwhelmingly as a girl's name.
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 Mckenna and Melissa 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 Mckenna and Melissa?
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 Mckenna and Melissa — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mckenna or Melissa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mckenna or Melissa?
- Mckenna, in 2025: Mckenna ranked #410 with 758 babies; Melissa ranked #419 with 747 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mckenna or Melissa?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Mckenna moved down 130 places; Melissa moved down 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Mckenna or Melissa?
- Mckenna entered the US charts in 1972; Melissa was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Melissa is the older name.
- How many people are named Mckenna and Melissa?
- About 44,000 people named Mckenna are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 722,000 people named Melissa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mckennas or Melissas in the classroom?
- Mckenna will almost certainly be the only one in school. Melissa 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 Mckenna, Melissa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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