Head to head · Girls' names
Natalia vs Remi
#144 vs #145 in 2025 · both stepping back from its peak
Natalia is a whisker ahead (#144 vs #145 in 2025) and both are stepping back from its peak. 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, Natalia leads 5 measures of 6; Remi leads 0.
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: Natalia #1262, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1900s: Natalia #1578, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1910s: Natalia #1551, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1920s: Natalia #1062, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1930s: Natalia #1136, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1940s: Natalia #1710, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1950s: Natalia #1862, Remi — — Natalia higher
- 1960s: Natalia #1552, Remi #5485 — Natalia higher
- 1970s: Natalia #983, Remi #6889 — Natalia higher
- 1980s: Natalia #530, Remi #6005 — Natalia higher
- 1990s: Natalia #364, Remi #2639 — Natalia higher
- 2000s: Natalia #138, Remi #1905 — Natalia higher
- 2010s: Natalia #112, Remi #622 — Natalia higher
- 2020s: Natalia #98, Remi #130 — Natalia higher
Natalia stood higher in every recorded decade — 14 of 14.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Natalia | Remi |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #1262 | — |
| 1900s | #1578 | — |
| 1910s | #1551 | — |
| 1920s | #1062 | — |
| 1930s | #1136 | — |
| 1940s | #1710 | — |
| 1950s | #1862 | — |
| 1960s | #1552 | #5485 |
| 1970s | #983 | #6889 |
| 1980s | #530 | #6005 |
| 1990s | #364 | #2639 |
| 2000s | #138 | #1905 |
| 2010s | #112 | #622 |
| 2020s | #98 | #130 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Natalia
Not charting outside the US.
Remi
- Scotland#46
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Natalia
Birthday — specifically Christmas Day, the birth of Christ
From Latin *natalis*, 'of birth'. The same root gives Noël and the word Nativity.
Natalis → Natalia → Nataliya → Nathalie → Natalie
How it traveled
The Latin phrase *dies natalis Domini*, the birthday of the Lord, gave the early Christian world a name for daughters born at Christmas, and Natalia is its feminine form. Church calendars have long paired a Saint Natalia with Adrian of Nicomedia, and it was through that veneration that the name reached the Slavic east, where it settled deeply as Nataliya and Natalya.
Remi
oarsman, rower
From Latin Remigius, formed on remus, "oar". In American use Remi also works as a clipped form of longer names — Remington above all — so the same spelling can arrive with no Latin in its luggage at all.
Remigius → Rémi → Rémy → Remi
How it traveled
Remigius is a Latin name from remus, "oar", and it belonged to the bishop of Reims who baptized Clovis, king of the Franks, at the close of the fifth century — an event French tradition treats as the founding of Christian France. The saint's name stayed in ordinary French circulation for the next fourteen centuries, worn down to Rémi and Rémy, and spread in Latin dress across Italy, Spain and Poland as Remigio and Remigiusz.
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
Natalia
nuh-TAH-lee-uh
Spanish and Italian speakers usually compress the ending to three syllables: nah-TAH-lyah. Both are correct for the same name, and most Natalias answer to either.
- Nat — The everyday short form in English, shared with Natalie and Natasha.
- Talia — Taken from the second half; also an independent given name in its own right.
- Nati — Common in Spanish-speaking households, said NAH-tee.
- Natasha — The Russian diminutive of Natalya, long used on its own as a full given name in English.
- Also Tally, Lia.
Remi
REM-ee
Two syllables, stress on the first, with the short e of "hem". Some families say REE-mee. French speakers give it as ray-MEE, stress at the end — worth knowing if relatives abroad will be saying it.
- Rem — The one real shortening, informal and mostly within families; not used as a given name on its own.
- Remy — Used interchangeably with Remi by many families, and also stands alone as a given name for boys and girls.
- Remi — Works in the other direction too: it is the everyday short form for a child registered as Remington, Remus or Remigius.
Who has carried each name
Natalia
Natalia Dyer (b. 1995) — Stranger Things' Nancy
Natalia Goncharova (b. 1881) — Avant-garde painter whose works set auction records
Remi
No documented entry for Remi 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 Natalia if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsNatalia is stepping back from its peak
- a name with more sound in itNatalia runs 3 syllables, Remi 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Nat, Talia and Nati
- a name that feels very nowNatalia is stepping back from its peak
Choose Remi if you want…
- a name with fewer syllablesRemi is 2 syllables to Natalia's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooRemi is on the national lists of Scotland
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 40% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 69% for Natalia
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
Natalia
Strengths
- Spelled identically in Spanish, Italian, Polish and Latin, so it crosses borders without translation or correction.
- Several long-established short forms — Nat, Talia, Nati, Natasha — none of which had to be invented.
- A documented line back to Latin, carried through Slavic, French and English branches without a break.
To consider
- It will be heard as Natalie constantly, and written that way too. Most Natalias spend a lifetime saying "Natalia, with an A at the end."
- Two pronunciations circulate — four syllables in English, three in Spanish — and a child may get both depending on the room.
- The Christmas meaning is real and specific. If the baby arrives in July, it is a piece of etymology rather than a description, and nobody will think twice about it.
Remi
Strengths
- Short, two syllables, and spelled as it sounds — most English speakers get it right on a first reading.
- A documented line back to Latin Remigius and the bishop of Reims, so the name has fourteen centuries of continuous use behind it.
- Recognizable across French, Italian, Spanish and Polish in closely related forms, which helps in multilingual families.
To consider
- Remi and Remy compete closely, and Remmy turns up too. Expect a lifetime of "is that with an i or a y?" — not a problem, just a small recurring question.
- In the United States this spelling goes mostly to girls, so a boy named Remi will occasionally be assumed female on paper. In France the opposite holds, which can cut either way depending on who is reading the form.
- The wave is very recent, so nearly everyone carrying the name is still a child. There is no adult version of Remi in most people's minds yet — your child will help set it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Natalia
69%chance Natalia feels dated by 2040
Natalia is coming down from a big peak (#79 in 2021). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
Remi
40%chance Remi feels dated by 2040
Remi 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 Natalia and Remi 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
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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 Natalia and Remi — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Natalia or Remi — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Natalia or Remi?
- Natalia, in 2025: Natalia ranked #144 with 2,028 babies; Remi ranked #145 with 2,023 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Natalia or Remi?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Natalia moved down 59 places; Remi moved down 20 places.
- Which is the older name, Natalia or Remi?
- Natalia entered the US charts in 1890; Remi entered the US charts in 1963. On the American record, Natalia is the older name.
- How many people are named Natalia and Remi?
- About 83,000 people named Natalia are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 22,500 people named Remi are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Natalias or Remis in the classroom?
- Natalia will almost certainly be the only one in school. Remi 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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