Head to head · Girls' names
Mina vs Reyna
#595 vs #594 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Reyna is a whisker ahead (#594 vs #595 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
The tape is even: Mina and Reyna 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: Mina #217, Reyna — — Mina higher
- 1890s: Mina #278, Reyna — — Mina higher
- 1900s: Mina #391, Reyna — — Mina higher
- 1910s: Mina #501, Reyna #3187 — Mina higher
- 1920s: Mina #653, Reyna #3940 — Mina higher
- 1930s: Mina #734, Reyna #3831 — Mina higher
- 1940s: Mina #966, Reyna #3245 — Mina higher
- 1950s: Mina #1328, Reyna #2624 — Mina higher
- 1960s: Mina #1582, Reyna #2264 — Mina higher
- 1970s: Mina #2042, Reyna #1382 — Reyna higher
- 1980s: Mina #1818, Reyna #898 — Reyna higher
- 1990s: Mina #1449, Reyna #653 — Reyna higher
- 2000s: Mina #972, Reyna #612 — Reyna higher
- 2010s: Mina #756, Reyna #691 — Reyna higher
- 2020s: Mina #609, Reyna #578 — Reyna higher
Mina stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Reyna has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Mina | Reyna |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #217 | — |
| 1890s | #278 | — |
| 1900s | #391 | — |
| 1910s | #501 | #3187 |
| 1920s | #653 | #3940 |
| 1930s | #734 | #3831 |
| 1940s | #966 | #3245 |
| 1950s | #1328 | #2624 |
| 1960s | #1582 | #2264 |
| 1970s | #2042 | #1382 |
| 1980s | #1818 | #898 |
| 1990s | #1449 | #653 |
| 2000s | #972 | #612 |
| 2010s | #756 | #691 |
| 2020s | #609 | #578 |
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
Mina
Depends on the road: Persian 'enamel, azure glass'; as a European short form, it carries the meaning of the longer name behind it
Mina is not one name with a disputed meaning so much as several names that met at one spelling. In German, Dutch and Scandinavian use it is a clipped form of Wilhelmina (from Germanic elements for 'will' and 'helmet, protection') or of Hermina. In Persian, mina is a word for blue enamel or glasswork, and also names a flower. In Japanese it is written with various character combinations, each giving its own sense — commonly 'beautiful' plus another element. In the Balkans it also serves as a short form of Milena, and in Arabic-speaking families as one of Amina.
Willahelm → Wilhelmina → Mina
How it traveled
The European Mina is a worn-down Wilhelmina, a name that spread through German and Dutch households and traveled with them; the full form was heavy and the short form did all the daily work. Bram Stoker gave the pairing to English readers in Dracula, where Wilhelmina Murray goes by Mina throughout.
Reyna
Queen
From Spanish reina, itself from Latin regina, feminine of rex, 'king'. The y-spelling reflects older Spanish orthography, in which reyna was the standard written form.
Regina → Reina → Reyna
How it traveled
The root is Latin regina, the feminine of rex, which passed into Spanish as reina — spelled reyna in older texts, before Spanish standardized the i. As a given name it belongs to the same devotional family as Regina, long used in Catholic Europe in reference to Mary as queen of heaven, and it was also carried by Sephardic Jewish families, for whom Reina was a familiar women's name in Judeo-Spanish.
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
Mina
MEE-nuh
MEE-nuh is the usual reading in English, Persian, Japanese and Korean use. Older German and Dutch families may say MIN-uh, closer to Minna, and a few English speakers guess MY-nuh on first sight. One correction usually settles it.
- Minnie — The long-established English pet form of Mina and Wilhelmina; also used as a given name in its own right.
- Min — Informal, family-level shortening; rarely written down.
- Mimi — Affectionate form, more common in French- and Italian-speaking use, and a standalone name too.
- Minka — Diminutive found in Dutch and Slavic use, and independently a given name.
Reyna
RAY-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish the first syllable is a clean ay diphthong; English speakers usually land on the same sound without being told. Occasional first-guesses of REE-nah happen but are easily corrected.
- Rey — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Rey-Rey — Family and childhood use rather than anything official.
- Reyni — An informal diminutive, more often spoken than written.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Mina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 66 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordMina was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Reyna if you want…
- a name holding steadyReyna is holding its place on the charts
- a newer arrivalReyna entered the US charts in 1913
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
Mina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, and phonetic on the page — most people spell it right the first time after hearing it once.
- Works unchanged in German, Dutch, Persian, Japanese, Korean and Serbian, which is rare for a name this short.
- Stands on its own as a full given name, but also sits ready as the short form of Wilhelmina or Amina if you want a longer name on the certificate.
To consider
- It lives among close neighbors: Mia, Nina, Tina and Mila are all in heavy use, and Mina will occasionally be heard or written as one of them. Repeating it is usually enough.
- Because the same spelling arrives from Persian, East Asian and Germanic roots, people may assume a background your family does not have — sometimes an interesting conversation, sometimes a tiring one.
- MEE-nuh and MIN-uh both have real claim to the spelling, so expect to state your preference now and then.
Reyna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English and Spanish speakers alike — two syllables, no silent letters, no hidden stress.
- The meaning is transparent rather than reconstructed: anyone who speaks Spanish knows the word.
- Belongs to a large documented family — Regina, Reina, Reine — so it has relatives in several languages.
To consider
- Reina and Reyna are both live spellings, so expect to specify which one, often more than once. Neither is a misspelling of the other, which is exactly why forms and teachers will guess.
- It sits close to Rayna and Raina, names with different roots, and the three get mixed up in writing.
- 'Queen' is a plain, legible meaning to a great many people, not a buried etymology — worth knowing that it will occasionally be remarked on out loud.
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 Mina and Reyna 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 Mina and Reyna?
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 Mina and Reyna — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Mina or Reyna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Mina or Reyna?
- Reyna, in 2025: Reyna ranked #594 with 493 babies; Mina ranked #595 with 491 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Mina or Reyna?
- Mina. Over the last five years Mina moved up 66 places; Reyna moved down 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Mina or Reyna?
- Mina was already in use when US records began in 1880; Reyna entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Mina is the older name.
- How many people are named Mina and Reyna?
- About 13,000 people named Mina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Reyna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Minas or Reynas in the classroom?
- Mina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Reyna 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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