Head to head · Girls' names
Morgan vs Tessa
#312 vs #311 in 2025
Tessa is a whisker ahead (#311 vs #312 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Tessa is holding its place on the charts, Morgan is stepping back from its peak.
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, Tessa leads 3 measures of 6; Morgan 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
- 1890s: Morgan —, Tessa #1310 — Tessa higher
- 1900s: Morgan —, Tessa #1905 — Tessa higher
- 1910s: Morgan #4809, Tessa #3558 — Tessa higher
- 1920s: Morgan —, Tessa #4376 — Tessa higher
- 1930s: Morgan #4255, Tessa #4049 — Tessa higher
- 1940s: Morgan #4111, Tessa #1919 — Tessa higher
- 1950s: Morgan #3563, Tessa #2951 — Tessa higher
- 1960s: Morgan #2124, Tessa #1364 — Tessa higher
- 1970s: Morgan #1044, Tessa #594 — Tessa higher
- 1980s: Morgan #136, Tessa #377 — Morgan higher
- 1990s: Morgan #32, Tessa #240 — Morgan higher
- 2000s: Morgan #36, Tessa #254 — Morgan higher
- 2010s: Morgan #117, Tessa #234 — Morgan higher
- 2020s: Morgan #241, Tessa #306 — Morgan higher
Tessa stood higher in 9 of 14 decades; Morgan has held the lead since the 1980s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Morgan | Tessa |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1310 |
| 1900s | — | #1905 |
| 1910s | #4809 | #3558 |
| 1920s | — | #4376 |
| 1930s | #4255 | #4049 |
| 1940s | #4111 | #1919 |
| 1950s | #3563 | #2951 |
| 1960s | #2124 | #1364 |
| 1970s | #1044 | #594 |
| 1980s | #136 | #377 |
| 1990s | #32 | #240 |
| 2000s | #36 | #254 |
| 2010s | #117 | #234 |
| 2020s | #241 | #306 |
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
Morgan
from Welsh mor, "sea" — the second element is disputed
The first part is agreed: mor, "sea." The second is not. Old Welsh Morcant is usually read as mor plus cant, "circle" or "completion," giving the popular gloss "sea-circle"; others read the ending as "bright" or connect it to the widespread "born of the sea." The sea is solid ground here; what surrounds it is not.
Morcant → Morgan → Morgane → Morgana
How it traveled
The name begins as Old Welsh Morcant, which turns up in early medieval British records and passed into Welsh as Morgan, borne by men and later carried as one of the great Welsh surnames. Breton and French tradition took the Arthurian figure and made a feminine form, Morgane, which is why the name has two settled genders in Europe rather than one.
Tessa
Unsettled — through Teresa, read variously as 'summer', 'harvester', or a name from the Greek island Therasia
Tessa's meaning is Teresa's meaning, and Teresa's root has never been agreed on. The serious candidates are Greek theros, 'summer'; therizein, 'to harvest'; and the island name Therasia, borne by a fourth-century Roman woman, Therasia. Each has scholarly support and none has won. That leaves Tessa in good company — some of the oldest European names are exactly this open.
Therasia → Teresa → Theresa → Tess → Tessa
How it traveled
The line runs back through Teresa, a name that spread from the Iberian peninsula across Catholic Europe and became one of the great international names of the Church. English speakers clipped it to Tess, then extended that clip back out to Tessa, and by the nineteenth century Tessa was being recorded as a name given at birth rather than a household shortening.
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
Morgan
MOR-gan
Stress on the first syllable, the second reduced to an unstressed -gan. Welsh speakers say it much the same way, with a tapped r. The French Morgane adds a final syllable: mor-GAN.
- Mo — The most common short form, informal; also serves as a nickname for several unrelated names, so it rarely points back to Morgan on its own.
- Morgs — Casual, friend-group register rather than family use.
- Morgie — Chiefly used with small children and inside families.
- Mory — Occasional affectionate form; sometimes spelled Morrie.
Tessa
TESS-uh
Stress on the first syllable. One pronunciation everywhere in English, and near-identical in Dutch and German.
- Tess — The most common short form, and a standard given name on its own in English-speaking countries.
- Tessie — Informal and affectionate; long-established, and still strongly associated with older generations.
- Tee — Casual, spoken rather than written; used within families and among friends.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Morgan if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsMorgan is stepping back from its peak
- a name that feels very nowMorgan is stepping back from its peak
Choose Tessa if you want…
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 81% for Morgan
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
Morgan
Strengths
- One spelling, no variants to correct: readers across English, Welsh and French recognize it on sight and say it the same way.
- A documented line running from Old Welsh Morcant to the present, with the written form essentially unchanged for centuries.
- Works unaltered for a boy or a girl, and needs no adjustment when traveling between English- and French-speaking countries.
To consider
- The gender reading flips by geography. In the US the spelling leans to girls; in Wales and much of Britain it is still firmly a man's name. A Morgan of either sex will meet people who expected the other.
- It is a heavily used surname too — think of firm names and the car marque — so it can read as a last name on a form until the first name is confirmed.
- The best-known bearer in older literature is Morgan le Fay, who moves from healer in the earliest text to antagonist in later Arthurian romance. Some people know that; most only half-remember it.
Tessa
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, with no competing variant to correct — people write it correctly on the first try.
- Comes with a ready-made short form, Tess, that is itself a full name in English.
- In use in American records since the nineteenth century, with no long gap and no sudden fashion spike.
To consider
- It is already brief, so nickname options are narrow: Tess, Tessie, and not much else. If you like a name with several distinct routes, this one offers a short list.
- Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles is widely taught in schools, and it is a tragic novel. The association is literary rather than unpleasant, but some readers will make it.
- Because it started as a pet form, people occasionally assume it is short for Theresa and ask for the longer version. A one-word answer settles it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Morgan
81%chance Morgan feels dated by 2040
Morgan is coming down from a big peak (#22 in 1997). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Tessa
40%chance Tessa feels dated by 2040
Tessa sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Morgan and Tessa 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 Morgan and Tessa?
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 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 Morgan and Tessa — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Morgan or Tessa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Morgan or Tessa?
- Tessa, in 2025: Tessa ranked #311 with 978 babies; Morgan ranked #312 with 977 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Morgan or Tessa?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Morgan moved down 117 places; Tessa moved down 31 places.
- Which is the older name, Morgan or Tessa?
- Morgan entered the US charts in 1918; Tessa entered the US charts in 1891. On the American record, Tessa is the older name.
- How many people are named Morgan and Tessa?
- About 221,000 people named Morgan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 55,000 people named Tessa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Morgans or Tessas in the classroom?
- Morgan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Tessa 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 Morgan, Tessa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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