Head to head · Girls' names
Melina vs Noor
#660 vs #659 in 2025 · Greek vs Arabic roots
Noor is a whisker ahead (#659 vs #660 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Noor is climbing the charts fast, Melina 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: Melina and Noor 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: Melina #1013, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1890s: Melina #1412, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1900s: Melina #1668, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1910s: Melina #2697, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1920s: Melina #4378, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1930s: Melina #4202, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1940s: Melina #3751, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1950s: Melina #3446, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1960s: Melina #1553, Noor — — Melina higher
- 1970s: Melina #1139, Noor #8061 — Melina higher
- 1980s: Melina #972, Noor #4073 — Melina higher
- 1990s: Melina #710, Noor #1588 — Melina higher
- 2000s: Melina #539, Noor #1100 — Melina higher
- 2010s: Melina #598, Noor #988 — Melina higher
- 2020s: Melina #645, Noor #779 — Melina higher
Melina stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Melina | Noor |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #1013 | — |
| 1890s | #1412 | — |
| 1900s | #1668 | — |
| 1910s | #2697 | — |
| 1920s | #4378 | — |
| 1930s | #4202 | — |
| 1940s | #3751 | — |
| 1950s | #3446 | — |
| 1960s | #1553 | — |
| 1970s | #1139 | #8061 |
| 1980s | #972 | #4073 |
| 1990s | #710 | #1588 |
| 2000s | #539 | #1100 |
| 2010s | #598 | #988 |
| 2020s | #645 | #779 |
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
Melina
honey; also a pet form of names like Carmela and Michalina
Two serious readings sit side by side. The Greek one traces Melina to *meli*, honey — the root that also gives Melissa, 'bee'. The other treats it as a diminutive ending grafted onto other names: Carmelina and Carmela in Italian and Spanish, Michalina in Polish, each of which can shorten to Melina. Both routes are genuinely in use, and a family can honestly claim either.
meli (Greek, 'honey') → Melina → Mélina
How it traveled
The honey word *meli* is ancient Greek, and the -ina ending is a diminutive that Greek, Italian and Spanish all share, so Melina could be formed independently in more than one place — which is roughly what happened. In Greece it stands on its own; in Italy and Spain it has long doubled as the short form of Carmela and Carmelina; in Poland it turns up behind Michalina.
Noor
Light
From Arabic nūr, 'light'. The same three-consonant root gives Anwar and Munir. Al-Nur, 'The Light', is both a chapter of the Qur'an and one of the divine names, which is a large part of why the word became a name at all.
nūr (Arabic, 'light') → Nur → Noor
How it traveled
Noor begins as an ordinary Arabic noun, nūr, light, and became a given name largely through its religious weight: the Qur'an's twenty-fourth sura is named An-Nur, and Al-Nur stands among the names of God. From Arabic it spread with Islam rather than with any one people, which is why it is at home in Turkish as Nur, in Malay and Indonesian as Nur, and in Persian and Urdu as Noor.
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
Melina
meh-LEE-nah
Stress on the middle syllable. Some American families say muh-LEE-nuh with a softer first vowel; the French Mélina and Greek Μελίνα both keep the same shape, so the name survives the crossing between languages with little damage.
- Mel — The everyday informal short form; shared with Melanie, Melissa and Melinda, so it says less about which name is on the certificate.
- Lina — Taken from the back half; also a full given name in its own right across Germany, Italy and the Arabic-speaking world.
- Mimi — A family-level nickname rather than a school one, common in Greek and Italian households.
- Melly — Informal and mostly used by parents and close friends in childhood.
- Also Meli.
Noor
NOOR
One syllable, rhyming with 'tour' — the vowel of 'moon', not of 'more'. Americans who merge 'poor' and 'pour' sometimes land on NOR; a single correction usually settles it.
- Noor — Already as short as it gets; most bearers use the full name in every setting, formal and informal alike.
- Noori — An affectionate family form, used at home rather than on paperwork.
- Noo — A household nickname among close family and small children, not generally used outside it.
- Noora — Not a nickname but a longer sister-form in Arabic; some families use it as the formal version with Noor for daily life.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Melina if you want…
- a name holding steadyMelina is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itMelina runs 3 syllables, Noor 1
Choose Noor if you want…
- a name on the way upup 227 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesNoor is 1 syllable to Melina's 3
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
Melina
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and short enough that no one has to ask twice how it is written.
- Works unchanged in Greek, Italian, Spanish and German, which matters in a family that spans more than one of them.
- Short forms are already established — Mel, Lina, Meli — so nothing has to be invented.
To consider
- It sits close to Melinda, Melanie, Malina and Melania, and will occasionally be heard or written as one of those. A clear first introduction usually settles it.
- In medical settings, 'melena' is a clinical term with a similar sound. It is a narrow overlap, unlikely to surface in daily life, but worth knowing about in advance rather than later.
- Mel, the most natural short form, belongs equally to several other names, so it does not point back to Melina on its own.
Noor
Strengths
- Four letters, one syllable, and a meaning most people can state — light — which makes it easy to say, spell aloud and remember.
- Recognized across Arabic, Turkish, Persian, Urdu, Malay and Indonesian speech, so it travels between families and countries without being translated or reshaped.
- Centuries of continuous use behind it, anchored in the Qur'an, while remaining uncommon in American schools.
To consider
- Three spellings compete internationally — Noor, Nour and Nur — so expect to spell it for forms, teachers and coffee cups, even though each version is short.
- The vowel gets flattened to NOR by some American speakers. It is a small, easily fixed misreading rather than a lasting problem.
- In parts of South Asia and the Arab world Noor is given to boys as well as girls; in US records it appears as a girl's name, which can mean occasional explaining in mixed company.
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 Melina and Noor in full.
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Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- Arabic names in American use
- Names with nowhere to shorten
- Names ending in -or
- all guides
Where Melina and Noor each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Melina or Noor — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Melina or Noor?
- Noor, in 2025: Noor ranked #659 with 435 babies; Melina ranked #660 with 434 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Melina or Noor?
- Noor. Over the last five years Melina moved down 12 places; Noor moved up 227 places.
- Which is the older name, Melina or Noor?
- Melina entered the US charts in 1883; Noor entered the US charts in 1979. On the American record, Melina is the older name.
- How many people are named Melina and Noor?
- About 19,500 people named Melina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 8,200 people named Noor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Melinas or Noors in the classroom?
- Melina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Noor 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
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