Head to head · Boys' names
Pablo vs Prince
#429 vs #447 in 2025
Pablo is a whisker ahead (#429 vs #447 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Pablo is holding its place on the charts, Prince 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, Pablo leads 4 measures of 6; Prince 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
- 1880s: Pablo #605, Prince #422 — Prince higher
- 1890s: Pablo #631, Prince #465 — Prince higher
- 1900s: Pablo #506, Prince #461 — Prince higher
- 1910s: Pablo #673, Prince #605 — Prince higher
- 1920s: Pablo #481, Prince #748 — Pablo higher
- 1930s: Pablo #488, Prince #828 — Pablo higher
- 1940s: Pablo #531, Prince #859 — Pablo higher
- 1950s: Pablo #520, Prince #900 — Pablo higher
- 1960s: Pablo #478, Prince #1026 — Pablo higher
- 1970s: Pablo #394, Prince #1104 — Pablo higher
- 1980s: Pablo #367, Prince #738 — Pablo higher
- 1990s: Pablo #327, Prince #1007 — Pablo higher
- 2000s: Pablo #304, Prince #832 — Pablo higher
- 2010s: Pablo #394, Prince #400 — Pablo higher
- 2020s: Pablo #403, Prince #368 — Prince higher
Pablo stood higher in 10 of 15 decades; Prince took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Pablo | Prince |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #605 | #422 |
| 1890s | #631 | #465 |
| 1900s | #506 | #461 |
| 1910s | #673 | #605 |
| 1920s | #481 | #748 |
| 1930s | #488 | #828 |
| 1940s | #531 | #859 |
| 1950s | #520 | #900 |
| 1960s | #478 | #1026 |
| 1970s | #394 | #1104 |
| 1980s | #367 | #738 |
| 1990s | #327 | #1007 |
| 2000s | #304 | #832 |
| 2010s | #394 | #400 |
| 2020s | #403 | #368 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Pablo
- France#68
Prince
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
Pablo
small, humble
From the Latin cognomen Paulus, an ordinary Roman family name meaning 'small' or 'little'.
Paulus → Paulo → Pablo
How it traveled
Paulus began as a Roman cognomen, one of the plain descriptive surnames Latin families carried for generations. It spread far beyond Rome because Saul of Tarsus, the first-century missionary whose letters make up much of the New Testament, is known throughout Christendom as Paul — and wherever those letters were read, the name followed.
Prince
prince, a ruler's son or a ruler
From the English word prince, from Latin princeps, the first one, a title Augustus took for himself as first citizen.
princeps → prince → Prince
How it traveled
Prince was one of the grand names that enslavers often gave to enslaved men, and many who carried it made it their own. Prince Estabrook, still enslaved, stood with the minutemen on Lexington Green and was wounded in the first fight of the Revolution; he later served through the war and gained his freedom.
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
Pablo
PAH-bloh
Stress on the first syllable in both Spanish and English. Spanish gives the a a fuller, rounder sound and softens the b almost to a v between vowels; English speakers usually land on PAH-bloh, which everyone recognizes.
- Pablito — The standard Spanish diminutive, used affectionately within families and mostly in childhood.
- Pab — An informal English-language clipping, heard occasionally among friends rather than family.
- Pablo — Already short enough that most bearers use the full name in every setting, formal and casual alike.
Prince
PRINS
One syllable.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Pablo if you want…
- a name most people already know#429 in 2025, 743 babies that year
- a name with more sound in itPablo runs 2 syllables, Prince 1
- plenty of nickname options3 recorded short forms — Pablito, Pab and Pablo
- a name that charts abroad tooPablo is on the national lists of France
Choose Prince if you want…
- a name fewer children share#447 in 2025 — prince will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name past its most crowded yearsPrince is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesPrince is 1 syllable to Pablo's 2
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Prince
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
Pablo
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and known on sight across the Spanish-speaking world, France, Italy and the English-speaking countries.
- A long unbroken record in American use, with no sharp fashion spike behind it — it has never been the name of one particular moment.
- Short, evenly stressed and easy for a small child to say and write.
To consider
- It reads as clearly Spanish, which some families want and others may find leads to assumptions about heritage or to a first-meeting question about where the name comes from.
- There is one very well-known Colombian bearer from the drug trade whose name still draws the odd joke — set against artists and poets who carried it too, but worth knowing in advance.
- No natural English nickname beyond the Spanish Pablito, so a child who wants a shortened everyday name has little to work with.
Prince
Strengths
- It is short, strong and instantly understood.
- It has a long American history.
To consider
- It is a title as well as a name, and some will joke about royalty.
- Many will think first of the musician.
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 Pablo and Prince 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 Pablo and Prince?
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
- France's favorites still rare in America
- Names borrowed from poets
- Names borrowed from painters
- Pop star names on birth certificates
- all guides
Where Pablo and Prince each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Pablo or Prince — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Pablo or Prince?
- Pablo, in 2025: Pablo ranked #429 with 743 babies; Prince ranked #447 with 703 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Pablo or Prince?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Pablo moved down 44 places; Prince moved down 132 places.
- Which is the older name, Pablo or Prince?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Pablo and Prince?
- About 43,500 people named Pablo are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 20,000 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Pablos or Princes in the classroom?
- Pablo will almost certainly be the only one in school. Prince 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
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