Head to head · Girls' names
Noemi vs Reina
#583 vs #582 in 2025
Reina is a whisker ahead (#582 vs #583 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Reina is holding its place on the charts, Noemi is back after a long quiet spell. On momentum, Noemi 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
The tape is even: Noemi and Reina 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
- 1890s: Noemi —, Reina #1571 — Reina higher
- 1910s: Noemi #3812, Reina #3603 — Reina higher
- 1920s: Noemi #3074, Reina #3363 — Noemi higher
- 1930s: Noemi #1701, Reina #2615 — Noemi higher
- 1940s: Noemi #1498, Reina #2684 — Noemi higher
- 1950s: Noemi #1024, Reina #2273 — Noemi higher
- 1960s: Noemi #862, Reina #1829 — Noemi higher
- 1970s: Noemi #720, Reina #1398 — Noemi higher
- 1980s: Noemi #659, Reina #1105 — Noemi higher
- 1990s: Noemi #575, Reina #966 — Noemi higher
- 2000s: Noemi #620, Reina #912 — Noemi higher
- 2010s: Noemi #731, Reina #880 — Noemi higher
- 2020s: Noemi #647, Reina #600 — Reina higher
Noemi stood higher in 10 of 13 decades; Reina took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Noemi | Reina |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | — | #1571 |
| 1910s | #3812 | #3603 |
| 1920s | #3074 | #3363 |
| 1930s | #1701 | #2615 |
| 1940s | #1498 | #2684 |
| 1950s | #1024 | #2273 |
| 1960s | #862 | #1829 |
| 1970s | #720 | #1398 |
| 1980s | #659 | #1105 |
| 1990s | #575 | #966 |
| 2000s | #620 | #912 |
| 2010s | #731 | #880 |
| 2020s | #647 | #600 |
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
Noemi
pleasantness, my delight (Hebrew)
From Hebrew na'omi, built on the root n-'-m, 'pleasant, sweet'. In the Book of Ruth, Naomi returns from Moab widowed and asks to be called Mara, 'bitter', instead — a play on her own name that only works because the meaning was plain to its first hearers.
Na'omi (Hebrew) → Noemin (Greek Septuagint) → Noemi (Latin Vulgate) → Noemí / Noémi → Naomi
How it traveled
The name begins in Hebrew scripture, where Naomi is Ruth's mother-in-law and the two of them walk back to Bethlehem together. When Jewish scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Bible into Greek, the name came through as Noemin; the Latin Vulgate rendered it Noemi, and that is the spelling Catholic Europe inherited.
Reina
queen (Spanish)
In Spanish, reina is simply the everyday word for queen, from Latin regina — that reading is not in doubt. But the same spelling reaches English speakers by other roads. Reina (also spelled Rayna) is an established Yiddish name, and in Japanese Reina's meaning depends entirely on which kanji a family chooses, so no single translation covers it. Which meaning applies depends on which tradition the name came down through.
Regina → Reine → Reina
How it traveled
The Latin regina, queen, gave Romance languages their word and their name: Spanish reina, French reine, Italian and Latin Regina. Spanish is where the given name Reina is most at home, and Spanish-speaking families brought it into American records generations ago.
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
Noemi
noh-EH-mee
Italian and much US English usage puts the stress in the middle: noh-EH-mee. Spanish Noemí stresses the last syllable, noh-eh-MEE, and Hungarian Noémi the first. All three are correct for their language, so it is worth deciding early which one you will answer to.
- Noe — Common informal short form in Spanish-speaking families; also exists separately as the Spanish form of Noah, spelled Noé, for men.
- Nomi — Informal, formed by dropping the middle vowel; occasionally used as a given name in its own right in Hebrew-speaking contexts.
- Mimi — Affectionate, family-level use, drawn from the end of the name rather than the beginning.
- Noni — Informal diminutive heard mainly in Hungarian usage.
Reina
RAY-nah
RAY-nah in Spanish and in Japanese alike. Some English speakers reach for REE-nah on first sight, reading it as a cousin of Rena or Nina, so expect to correct that occasionally.
- Rei — The simplest clipping; also used on its own as a given name in Japanese.
- Reinita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than official.
- Rey — Informal shortening in English-speaking settings; note that rey is the Spanish word for king.
- Nina — A playful household nickname drawn from the second syllable, not a formal short form.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Noemi if you want…
- a name on the way upup 186 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesNoemi is 2 syllables to Reina's 3
Choose Reina if you want…
- a name holding steadyReina is holding its place on the charts
- a name with more sound in itReina runs 3 syllables, Noemi 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
Noemi
Strengths
- Recognizable in English through the familiar Naomi, so most people grasp it instantly even when they need the spelling.
- One spelling works unchanged in Italian, Polish, Spanish and Hungarian — useful in a bilingual family or across borders.
- A documented record stretching back to the Book of Ruth, with no gap in the line between then and now.
To consider
- Naomi is the better-known spelling in English, so expect to correct it fairly often — usually a small, quick correction rather than a real obstacle.
- The stress moves between languages: noh-EH-mee, noh-eh-MEE, NOH-eh-mee. Relatives in different countries may each say it their own way.
- The accented forms Noemí and Noémi are standard in Spanish and Hungarian, but US paperwork and databases tend to strip accents, so the plain Noemi is the version that will follow her through life.
Reina
Strengths
- Four letters, two syllables, phonetic in Spanish — anyone who speaks the language reads and spells it at a glance.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, English and Japanese, with no adjustment needed when crossing between them.
- On record in the United States across many generations, so it is neither novel nor tied to one moment of fashion.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, RAY-nah and REE-nah, and the wrong one is an easy first guess for English speakers. Most families settle it with a single friendly correction, but it repeats.
- Reyna is a common alternate spelling in the US, and Raina, Rayna and Rena all sit nearby. Expect forms and rosters to arrive spelled some other way now and then.
- To anyone who speaks Spanish, the name reads as the plain word "queen" — not a hidden etymology but an everyday noun. Some families love that transparency; others find it more declarative than they want.
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 Noemi and Reina 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 Noemi and Reina?
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 these names appear on
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- Eastern European names in American use
- The best baby names starting with N
- all guides
Where Noemi and Reina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Noemi or Reina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Noemi or Reina?
- Reina, in 2025: Reina ranked #582 with 510 babies; Noemi ranked #583 with 509 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Noemi or Reina?
- Noemi. Over the last five years Noemi moved up 186 places; Reina moved up 9 places.
- Which is the older name, Noemi or Reina?
- Noemi entered the US charts in 1915; Reina entered the US charts in 1896. On the American record, Reina is the older name.
- How many people are named Noemi and Reina?
- About 22,000 people named Noemi are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,500 people named Reina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Noemis or Reinas in the classroom?
- Noemi will almost certainly be the only one in school. Reina 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
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