Head to head · Girls' names
Molly vs Myla
#196 vs #210 in 2025
Molly is a whisker ahead (#196 vs #210 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Molly is holding its place on the charts, Myla is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Myla has the edge.
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, Molly leads 5 measures of 6; Myla 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: Molly #363, Myla — — Molly higher
- 1890s: Molly #416, Myla — — Molly higher
- 1900s: Molly #377, Myla — — Molly higher
- 1910s: Molly #347, Myla #3346 — Molly higher
- 1920s: Molly #406, Myla #3599 — Molly higher
- 1930s: Molly #364, Myla #2836 — Molly higher
- 1940s: Molly #359, Myla #2864 — Molly higher
- 1950s: Molly #339, Myla #2547 — Molly higher
- 1960s: Molly #296, Myla #2700 — Molly higher
- 1970s: Molly #185, Myla #3014 — Molly higher
- 1980s: Molly #116, Myla #3961 — Molly higher
- 1990s: Molly #92, Myla #3328 — Molly higher
- 2000s: Molly #98, Myla #1063 — Molly higher
- 2010s: Molly #126, Myla #371 — Molly higher
- 2020s: Molly #195, Myla #212 — Molly higher
Molly stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Molly | Myla |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #363 | — |
| 1890s | #416 | — |
| 1900s | #377 | — |
| 1910s | #347 | #3346 |
| 1920s | #406 | #3599 |
| 1930s | #364 | #2836 |
| 1940s | #359 | #2864 |
| 1950s | #339 | #2547 |
| 1960s | #296 | #2700 |
| 1970s | #185 | #3014 |
| 1980s | #116 | #3961 |
| 1990s | #92 | #3328 |
| 2000s | #98 | #1063 |
| 2010s | #126 | #371 |
| 2020s | #195 | #212 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Molly
- Scotland#56
Myla
- Scotland#74
- England & Wales#89
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Molly
a pet form of Mary; the underlying Hebrew name Miryam has no agreed translation
Molly's own history is clear — it is Mary, shortened. What Mary means is the unsettled part: readings of the Hebrew Miryam include "bitter" and "rebellious" from Hebrew roots, and "beloved" from an Egyptian element. Scholars have argued over it for a very long time without landing anywhere final.
Miryam → Maria → Mary → Moll → Molly
How it traveled
Mary was so common in medieval and early modern England that speakers wore it down for everyday use: Mary became Mall, Mall became Moll, and Moll picked up the affectionate -y ending to give Molly. Daniel Defoe used the older short form for the heroine of Moll Flanders in 1722; by then Molly was already standard across England and Ireland, and it traveled with Irish emigration into American speech.
Myla
Most often read as "dear, gracious" through the Slavic name Mila
Two serious readings compete. Read as an English respelling of Mila, it goes back to the Slavic root mil-, "dear, gracious" — the element behind Milena and Miloslava. Read as a feminine form of Myles or Miles, its meaning is itself unsettled, argued between Latin miles, "soldier," and older Germanic material. A third possibility is simpler: that the spelling was formed in English on the pattern of Layla and Kayla, in which case it carries no inherited meaning at all.
Mila → Myla
How it traveled
The spelling Myla belongs to English, where y has long been swapped in for i to give a familiar name a different face — the same move that turned Lily into Lyly and Aisha into Ayisha. Behind it stands Mila, a short form used across the Slavic languages from names built on mil-, "dear," and carried west by twentieth-century emigration.
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
Molly
MAH-lee
Rhymes with jolly. One pronunciation everywhere in English; the only real variation is how open the first vowel sits, from MAH-lee to MAW-lee.
- Moll — The older form Molly grew out of; used informally within families, less common on its own now.
- Mols — Casual, mostly among friends and siblings; spelled Molls as often as Mols.
- Mary — The full name behind Molly, sometimes used as the formal version when a family wants both.
- Polly — A historic rhyming offshoot of Molly that long ago became an independent given name.
Myla
MY-luh
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the long i of "my". The main confusion is with Mila, which most American speakers say MEE-lah — close on paper, different in the mouth.
- My — The obvious household clip, informal only; rarely written down.
- Mylie — Affectionate lengthening used at home; overlaps in sound with Miley and Mylie, both of which stand alone as given names.
- Mimi — A general-purpose pet name attached to many M- names; informal, family use.
Who has carried each name
Molly
Molly Ringwald (b. 1968) — Teen queen of The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles
Molly Shannon (b. 1964) — SNL's fearless Mary Katherine Gallagher
Myla
No documented entry for Myla yet.
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 Molly if you want…
- a name most people already know#196 in 2025, 1,601 babies that year
- a name holding steadyMolly is holding its place on the charts
- a long American recordMolly was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 25% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 51% for Myla
Choose Myla if you want…
- a name fewer children share#210 in 2025 — myla will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 66 places on the charts in five years
- a name that charts abroad tooMyla is on the national lists of Scotland and England & Wales
- a newer arrivalMyla 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
Molly
Strengths
- Already a short, affectionate form, so there is nothing to shorten — the everyday name and the legal name are the same.
- Spelled the way it sounds, and read correctly on sight by nearly every English speaker.
- A continuous record in English and Irish use going back centuries, and still on the charts in Scotland.
To consider
- In American slang since the 2010s, "molly" has been a street term for MDMA, used in songs and headlines. It has not displaced the name, but it is worth knowing that the word travels in two worlds.
- Mollie is a long-established alternative spelling, so expect an occasional need to specify which one.
- The older short form Moll picked up unflattering senses in centuries past — a gangster's girlfriend, a woman of the streets. That baggage attached to Moll, not Molly, and is largely archaic now.
Myla
Strengths
- Two syllables, four letters, and no silent parts — easy for a small child to say and to write early.
- Charts in Scotland and in England and Wales as well as the US, so it reads as a name rather than a puzzle across the English-speaking world.
- Sits in a sound family already familiar to most ears — Layla, Kayla, Mila — which makes it recognizable without being everywhere.
To consider
- Myla and Mila will be mixed up for life, in spelling and in speech. Expect to spell it out often and to correct MEE-lah to MY-luh. The variant Mylah adds a third spelling to the pile.
- This is a name on a fast rise. A child named Myla may well be the only one in her class now and share it with two others by high school — worth knowing if rarity is part of the appeal.
- The wave is very new, so nearly everyone carrying this name is a child. There is no long line of adult Mylas yet to show what it sounds like on a grown woman — that record is being written now.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Molly
25%chance Molly feels dated by 2040
Molly peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Myla
51%chance Myla feels dated by 2040
Myla is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Molly and Myla 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
- Five-letter names, the comfortable middle
- Names with a double letter
- Irish names beyond St. Patrick's Day
- Wizarding world names from the Potter books
- all guides
Where Molly and Myla each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Molly or Myla — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Molly or Myla?
- Molly, in 2025: Molly ranked #196 with 1,601 babies; Myla ranked #210 with 1,436 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Molly or Myla?
- Myla. Over the last five years Molly moved down 23 places; Myla moved up 66 places.
- Which is the older name, Molly or Myla?
- Molly was already in use when US records began in 1880; Myla entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Molly is the older name.
- How many people are named Molly and Myla?
- About 161,000 people named Molly are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 21,500 people named Myla are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Mollys or Mylas in the classroom?
- Molly will almost certainly be the only one in school. Myla 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
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