Head to head · Girls' names
Nina vs Serena
#324 vs #325 in 2025
Nina is a whisker ahead (#324 vs #325 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Nina is holding its place on the charts, Serena is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Serena 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, Nina leads 4 measures of 6; Serena 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: Nina #124, Serena #572 — Nina higher
- 1890s: Nina #132, Serena #715 — Nina higher
- 1900s: Nina #155, Serena #786 — Nina higher
- 1910s: Nina #171, Serena #1027 — Nina higher
- 1920s: Nina #188, Serena #1235 — Nina higher
- 1930s: Nina #188, Serena #1255 — Nina higher
- 1940s: Nina #219, Serena #1063 — Nina higher
- 1950s: Nina #228, Serena #977 — Nina higher
- 1960s: Nina #268, Serena #704 — Nina higher
- 1970s: Nina #327, Serena #425 — Nina higher
- 1980s: Nina #202, Serena #433 — Nina higher
- 1990s: Nina #252, Serena #366 — Nina higher
- 2000s: Nina #255, Serena #318 — Nina higher
- 2010s: Nina #305, Serena #428 — Nina higher
- 2020s: Nina #324, Serena #371 — Nina higher
Nina stood higher in every recorded decade — 15 of 15.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Nina | Serena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #124 | #572 |
| 1890s | #132 | #715 |
| 1900s | #155 | #786 |
| 1910s | #171 | #1027 |
| 1920s | #188 | #1235 |
| 1930s | #188 | #1255 |
| 1940s | #219 | #1063 |
| 1950s | #228 | #977 |
| 1960s | #268 | #704 |
| 1970s | #327 | #425 |
| 1980s | #202 | #433 |
| 1990s | #252 | #366 |
| 2000s | #255 | #318 |
| 2010s | #305 | #428 |
| 2020s | #324 | #371 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Nina
- France#35
- Scotland#66
Serena
Not charting outside the US.
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Nina
Several roots: 'little girl' in Spanish, or a pet form of longer names ending in -nina
Three lines feed the same spelling. In Spanish, niña means 'little girl'. In Italian and the Slavic languages, Nina began as a clipping of longer names — Antonina, Giovannina, Yanina — where the final syllables were kept and the rest dropped. In Russian it is also the standard form of the Georgian name Nino, whose own meaning is not established. None of these cancels the others out; a given family may be drawing on any one of them.
Antonina → Nina
How it traveled
The shortest path to Nina runs through Italy and the Slavic-speaking world, where long names were routinely trimmed from the end rather than the front: Antonina and Giovannina gave Nina, much as Alessandra gave Sandra. Spanish supplied a second, independent route through niña, the ordinary word for a girl child.
Serena
calm, clear, tranquil
From Latin serenus, used of cloudless skies and untroubled water; the same root gives English serene.
serenus (Latin, 'clear, calm') → Serena (Roman name) → Serena
How it traveled
The Latin adjective serenus described bright, still weather, and by the Roman imperial period it had become a personal name. One documented bearer was Serena, niece of the emperor Theodosius I and wife of the general Stilicho, at the turn of the fifth century.
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
Nina
NEE-nah
NEE-nah is standard in English and matches the Italian, Spanish, Slavic and Georgian pronunciations. A minority of English speakers, mostly of older generations, say NY-nah; if that is the version you want, expect to correct people.
- Nini — Household use; Nina is already short, so most pet forms stay inside the family.
- Ninou — French affectionate form, common where the name charts in France.
- Nins — Informal, mostly among friends and siblings rather than adults.
Serena
suh-REE-nuh
Italian and Spanish speakers say seh-REH-nah, with the middle vowel like the 'e' in 'bed'. Both are correct for the same name; it is worth deciding which one your family will use.
- Rena — The most established short form; also used on its own as a given name in English, German and Hebrew contexts.
- Sera — Informal clipping of the first syllables; overlaps in sound with Sarah, which can cause a moment's confusion.
- Sere — Common in Italian usage, said SEH-reh rather than rhyming with English 'sear'.
- Reni — Affectionate family form built from Rena, mostly used at home rather than on paper.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Nina if you want…
- a name holding steadyNina is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesNina is 2 syllables to Serena's 3
- a name that charts abroad tooNina is on the national lists of France and Scotland
Choose Serena if you want…
- a name on the way upup 96 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itSerena runs 3 syllables, Nina 2
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
Nina
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and spelled the same way in Italian, Spanish, Polish, Russian transliteration and German.
- Two syllables, four letters, no silent letters or double consonants to explain.
- Unbroken presence in American records since the earliest years of the national data, without a fashion spike attached to any one decade.
To consider
- The NEE-nah and NY-nah split is real, if lopsided. Most people will say NEE-nah, but you will meet the other version occasionally, usually from older speakers.
- It sits in a crowded sound family — Mina, Gina, Tina, Lena, Nena — so it can be misheard over a phone or in a noisy room.
- In Spanish, niña is an everyday word for a girl child, not only a name. Among Spanish speakers that reads as familiar rather than odd, but it is worth knowing.
Serena
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and already familiar to readers as the word serene — rarely needs repeating or clarifying.
- Written identically in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German, so it crosses borders without changing shape.
- A documented record stretching from Roman antiquity through Elizabethan poetry to the present day.
To consider
- For many people in the US the name belongs first to one extraordinarily famous tennis player. That is a warm association rather than a difficult one, but it is a strong one, and it will come up.
- The meaning is unusually transparent, so expect remarks about calmness and serenity from strangers for years — pleasant enough, but relentless.
- Serina, Sarina and Sirena all exist and sound close, so occasional misspellings are likely even though the name itself is easy to say.
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 Nina and Serena 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 Nina and Serena?
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 Nina and Serena — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Nina or Serena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Nina or Serena?
- Nina, in 2025: Nina ranked #324 with 946 babies; Serena ranked #325 with 942 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Nina or Serena?
- Serena. Over the last five years Nina moved up 3 places; Serena moved up 96 places.
- Which is the older name, Nina or Serena?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Nina and Serena?
- About 90,000 people named Nina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 44,500 people named Serena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ninas or Serenas in the classroom?
- Nina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Serena 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 Nina, Serena and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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