Head to head · Girls' names
Melody vs Millie
#79 vs #73 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Millie is a whisker ahead (#73 vs #79 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Millie leads 5 measures of 6; Melody 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: Melody —, Millie #146 — Millie higher
- 1890s: Melody —, Millie #189 — Millie higher
- 1900s: Melody —, Millie #225 — Millie higher
- 1910s: Melody #2876, Millie #263 — Millie higher
- 1920s: Melody #4100, Millie #342 — Millie higher
- 1930s: Melody #2046, Millie #406 — Millie higher
- 1940s: Melody #568, Millie #504 — Millie higher
- 1950s: Melody #209, Millie #670 — Melody higher
- 1960s: Melody #195, Millie #952 — Melody higher
- 1970s: Melody #218, Millie #1483 — Melody higher
- 1980s: Melody #249, Millie #2276 — Melody higher
- 1990s: Melody #362, Millie #2694 — Melody higher
- 2000s: Melody #301, Millie #1513 — Melody higher
- 2010s: Melody #159, Millie #529 — Melody higher
- 2020s: Melody #100, Millie #126 — Melody higher
Melody stood higher in 8 of 15 decades; Melody has held the lead since the 1950s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Melody | Millie |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #146 |
| 1890s | — | #189 |
| 1900s | — | #225 |
| 1910s | #2876 | #263 |
| 1920s | #4100 | #342 |
| 1930s | #2046 | #406 |
| 1940s | #568 | #504 |
| 1950s | #209 | #670 |
| 1960s | #195 | #952 |
| 1970s | #218 | #1483 |
| 1980s | #249 | #2276 |
| 1990s | #362 | #2694 |
| 2000s | #301 | #1513 |
| 2010s | #159 | #529 |
| 2020s | #100 | #126 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Melody
Not charting outside the US.
Millie
- Scotland#7
- England & Wales#27
- Canada#83
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Melody
Song, tune — literally 'singing of a poem'
The Greek melōidia joins melos, 'song' or 'tune', with aoidē, 'singing' — the same root behind the word ode.
melōidia (Greek) → melodia (Late Latin) → melodie (Old French) → Melody
How it traveled
The word begins in Greek as melōidia, passes into Late Latin as melodia, and reaches English through Old French melodie in the medieval period, when it named a sung line of poetry. For centuries it stayed a common noun in English, a musical term rather than anything a person was called.
Millie
Depends on the longer name behind it: 'gentle strength', 'work' or 'strong worker' are the usual readings
Millie is a short form of several unrelated names, so its meaning shifts with its parent. Through Mildred it goes back to Old English mild ('gentle') and þryð ('strength, power'). Through Millicent it traces to a Germanic name built on amal ('work, labor') and swinth ('strong'). Through Amelia and Emilia the roots are amal again, and the Roman family name Aemilius. Used on its own, as it very often is now, Millie carries no single settled meaning.
Mildþryð → Mildred → Millie
How it traveled
The name is English in its current shape, but the material behind it is older and came from more than one direction. Mildred is native Old English, borne by an Anglo-Saxon abbess and revived by Victorian parents with a taste for early English names.
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
Melody
MEL-uh-dee
Stress on the first syllable, and the middle vowel is a light schwa. The French Mélodie shifts the stress toward the end, may-lo-DEE.
- Mel — The standard short form; also serves Melanie, Melissa and, for men, Melvin, so it rarely points to one name alone.
- Mellie — Informal and affectionate, mostly used within families rather than at school or work.
- Melly — An informal spelling of the same short form; interchangeable with Mellie in practice.
- Lodi — Occasional and family-made, drawn from the middle of the name rather than the front.
Millie
MIL-ee
Stress on the first syllable, and no regional disagreement about it in English. The Millie/Milly spelling choice is the only thing that trips people up, not the sound.
- Millie — Now used as a full given name in its own right on birth records, as well as an informal short form of Mildred, Millicent, Amelia, Emilia and Camilla.
- Mills — Informal, mostly among friends and teammates; a surname-style nickname of the kind English speakers apply to short names.
- Mil — Very informal and family-only; rarely written down.
- Millie-Mae — A double form found in British usage, where hyphenated pairings with Millie are established.
Who has carried each name
Melody
Melody Gardot (b. 1985) — Jazz singer who taught herself music while recovering from a near-fatal accident
Millie
Millie Bobby Brown (b. 2004) — Stranger Things' Eleven
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 Melody if you want…
- a name with more sound in itMelody runs 3 syllables, Millie 2
- a newer arrivalMelody entered the US charts in 1914
Choose Millie if you want…
- a name on the way upup 117 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesMillie is 2 syllables to Melody's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooMillie is on the national lists of Scotland, England & Wales and Canada
- a long American recordMillie 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
Melody
Strengths
- An ordinary English word, so the spelling is guessed correctly on the first try by almost anyone who hears it.
- Long-established short forms in Mel and Mellie, with a full-length name to fall back on.
- A documented line from Greek through Latin and French into English, unbroken as a word for many centuries.
To consider
- It is climbing rather than settling, so a Melody born now may meet more namesakes in her own year group than older bearers of the name ever did.
- Mel is shared with Melanie, Melissa and Melvin — useful, but it does not identify her the way the full name does.
- As a word-name, it invites the obvious music remarks: song puns, lyrics quoted at her. Most word-names carry a version of this, and most wearers outgrow the joke.
Millie
Strengths
- Short, phonetic and immediately readable — most people will say it correctly on first sight.
- Works either as a full legal name or as the everyday form of Amelia, Emilia, Millicent, Camilla or Mildred, which leaves the decision flexible.
- Currently charting in Scotland, England and Wales, and Canada as well as the United States, so it travels across English-speaking countries without explanation.
To consider
- Millie and Milly are both established, so expect a lifetime of spelling it out. Neither version is wrong, which is exactly what keeps the confusion going.
- It is climbing quickly. A name that is uncommon in classrooms now may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- As a diminutive by origin, it has no more formal register of its own. Some parents solve this by choosing a longer legal name and using Millie every day; others simply don't mind.
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 Melody and Millie 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 Melody and Millie?
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
- America's top 100 names right now
- Names at their all-time peak, right now
- Six-letter names in current use
- all guides
Every list here names both Melody and Millie — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Melody or Millie — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Melody or Millie?
- Millie, in 2025: Millie ranked #73 with 3,353 babies; Melody ranked #79 with 3,095 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Melody or Millie?
- Millie. Over the last five years Melody moved up 27 places; Millie moved up 117 places.
- Which is the older name, Melody or Millie?
- Melody entered the US charts in 1914; Millie was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Millie is the older name.
- How many people are named Melody and Millie?
- About 108,000 people named Melody are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 29,000 people named Millie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Melodys or Millies in the classroom?
- Melody will almost certainly be the only one in school. Millie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. 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 Melody, Millie and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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