Head to head · Girls' names
Paris vs Reyna
#592 vs #594 in 2025
Paris is a whisker ahead (#592 vs #594 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Paris is stepping back from its peak, Reyna is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Reyna 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, Paris leads 4 measures of 6; Reyna 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
- 1910s: Paris #3555, Reyna #3187 — Reyna higher
- 1920s: Paris #4003, Reyna #3940 — Reyna higher
- 1930s: Paris #3772, Reyna #3831 — Paris higher
- 1940s: Paris #3570, Reyna #3245 — Reyna higher
- 1950s: Paris #2629, Reyna #2624 — Reyna higher
- 1960s: Paris #1481, Reyna #2264 — Paris higher
- 1970s: Paris #1863, Reyna #1382 — Reyna higher
- 1980s: Paris #989, Reyna #898 — Reyna higher
- 1990s: Paris #490, Reyna #653 — Paris higher
- 2000s: Paris #359, Reyna #612 — Paris higher
- 2010s: Paris #297, Reyna #691 — Paris higher
- 2020s: Paris #486, Reyna #578 — Paris higher
The decades split evenly, 6 each; Paris has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Paris | Reyna |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #3555 | #3187 |
| 1920s | #4003 | #3940 |
| 1930s | #3772 | #3831 |
| 1940s | #3570 | #3245 |
| 1950s | #2629 | #2624 |
| 1960s | #1481 | #2264 |
| 1970s | #1863 | #1382 |
| 1980s | #989 | #898 |
| 1990s | #490 | #653 |
| 2000s | #359 | #612 |
| 2010s | #297 | #691 |
| 2020s | #486 | #578 |
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
Paris
Not established
Nobody has settled a meaning for this one, and both of its roads end the same way. The city is named for the Parisii, a Gaulish people whose own tribal name has never been convincingly translated — the Roman town on that site was called Lutetia first. The Trojan prince's name in Greek, Πάρις, is older than Greek itself and resists translation too. What the record gives is ownership and place, not a definition.
Parisii (Gaulish people) → Latin Parisius → Old French Paris → English Paris
How it traveled
The oldest Paris is the Trojan prince of Homer's Iliad, and the name traveled into medieval Europe with him — it appears on English records in the Middle Ages as a man's name and hardened into a surname. The city carries a separate history: a Roman settlement called Lutetia in the territory of the Parisii, which in late Roman and early medieval usage came to be called by the tribe's name instead.
Reyna
Queen
From Spanish reina, itself from Latin regina, feminine of rex, 'king'. The y-spelling reflects older Spanish orthography, in which reyna was the standard written form.
Regina → Reina → Reyna
How it traveled
The root is Latin regina, the feminine of rex, which passed into Spanish as reina — spelled reyna in older texts, before Spanish standardized the i. As a given name it belongs to the same devotional family as Regina, long used in Catholic Europe in reference to Mary as queen of heaven, and it was also carried by Sephardic Jewish families, for whom Reina was a familiar women's name in Judeo-Spanish.
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
Paris
PAIR-iss
PAIR-iss throughout the English-speaking world, stress on the first syllable. The French pronounce the city's name pa-REE, and some families enjoy that version; both are understood, but the English form is what a US classroom will default to.
- Pari — Informal, mostly family use; also stands alone as a given name in Persian.
- P — Initial-only, informal — the kind of thing friends and teammates land on.
Reyna
RAY-nah
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish the first syllable is a clean ay diphthong; English speakers usually land on the same sound without being told. Occasional first-guesses of REE-nah happen but are easily corrected.
- Rey — The most common short form; also stands alone as a given name in its own right.
- Rey-Rey — Family and childhood use rather than anything official.
- Reyni — An informal diminutive, more often spoken than written.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Paris if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsParis is stepping back from its peak
Choose Reyna if you want…
On the measures here, the records do not separate Reyna from Paris.
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
Paris
Strengths
- Spelled the way everyone already spells it — one of the few names you almost never have to repeat, clarify or correct.
- Recognized in nearly every language on earth, which travels well across borders and family lines.
- Two clean syllables with the stress up front; sits easily beside long surnames and short ones alike.
To consider
- It is inseparable from the city. Expect a lifetime of remarks about the Eiffel Tower, croissants and whether she's been — friendly, mostly, but constant.
- The name's rise and its current easing back both track a very visible American celebrity of the early 2000s. For people who remember that era, the association is still the first one they reach for.
- In Homer, Paris is a man — the prince who left with Helen and helped start the war. In the US the spelling reads as a girl's name without confusion, but the classical figure is a mixed literary godparent.
Reyna
Strengths
- Reads correctly on sight for most English and Spanish speakers alike — two syllables, no silent letters, no hidden stress.
- The meaning is transparent rather than reconstructed: anyone who speaks Spanish knows the word.
- Belongs to a large documented family — Regina, Reina, Reine — so it has relatives in several languages.
To consider
- Reina and Reyna are both live spellings, so expect to specify which one, often more than once. Neither is a misspelling of the other, which is exactly why forms and teachers will guess.
- It sits close to Rayna and Raina, names with different roots, and the three get mixed up in writing.
- 'Queen' is a plain, legible meaning to a great many people, not a buried etymology — worth knowing that it will occasionally be remarked on out loud.
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 Paris and Reyna 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 Paris and Reyna?
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 these names appear on
- Place names on the map and the birth certificate
- East and Southeast Asian names in American use
- Percy Jackson names on the charts
- all guides
Where Paris and Reyna each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Paris or Reyna — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Paris or Reyna?
- Paris, in 2025: Paris ranked #592 with 497 babies; Reyna ranked #594 with 493 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Paris or Reyna?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Paris moved down 176 places; Reyna moved down 5 places.
- Which is the older name, Paris or Reyna?
- Paris entered the US charts in 1917; Reyna entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Reyna is the older name.
- How many people are named Paris and Reyna?
- About 33,000 people named Paris are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 18,500 people named Reyna are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Pariss or Reynas in the classroom?
- Paris will almost certainly be the only one in school. Reyna 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
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