Head to head · Boys' names
Pedro vs Prince
#455 vs #447 in 2025
Prince is a whisker ahead (#447 vs #455 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Prince is stepping back from its peak, Pedro is holding its place on the charts. On momentum, Pedro 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: Pedro and Prince each lead 2 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
- 1880s: Pedro #363, Prince #422 — Pedro higher
- 1890s: Pedro #346, Prince #465 — Pedro higher
- 1900s: Pedro #289, Prince #461 — Pedro higher
- 1910s: Pedro #359, Prince #605 — Pedro higher
- 1920s: Pedro #293, Prince #748 — Pedro higher
- 1930s: Pedro #293, Prince #828 — Pedro higher
- 1940s: Pedro #313, Prince #859 — Pedro higher
- 1950s: Pedro #303, Prince #900 — Pedro higher
- 1960s: Pedro #286, Prince #1026 — Pedro higher
- 1970s: Pedro #230, Prince #1104 — Pedro higher
- 1980s: Pedro #205, Prince #738 — Pedro higher
- 1990s: Pedro #196, Prince #1007 — Pedro higher
- 2000s: Pedro #228, Prince #832 — Pedro higher
- 2010s: Pedro #354, Prince #400 — Pedro higher
- 2020s: Pedro #423, Prince #368 — Prince higher
Pedro stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Prince took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Pedro | Prince |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #363 | #422 |
| 1890s | #346 | #465 |
| 1900s | #289 | #461 |
| 1910s | #359 | #605 |
| 1920s | #293 | #748 |
| 1930s | #293 | #828 |
| 1940s | #313 | #859 |
| 1950s | #303 | #900 |
| 1960s | #286 | #1026 |
| 1970s | #230 | #1104 |
| 1980s | #205 | #738 |
| 1990s | #196 | #1007 |
| 2000s | #228 | #832 |
| 2010s | #354 | #400 |
| 2020s | #423 | #368 |
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
Pedro
Rock, stone
Greek Petros translates the Aramaic word for rock, kepha — the name given to the apostle Simon in the New Testament, where it appears in Greek as both Petros and Kephas.
Kepha → Petros → Petrus → Pedro
How it traveled
The name begins as a word rather than a name: Greek petros, "stone," used to render the Aramaic kepha in the Gospels, where the apostle Simon is renamed. Latin turned it into Petrus, and from Petrus the Romance languages each took their own road — Pierre in France, Pietro in Italy, Pere in Catalonia, and Pedro in both Spanish and Portuguese.
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
Pedro
PEH-droh
Two syllables, stress on the first. In Spanish and Portuguese the r is a light tap; English speakers usually say PED-roh or PAY-droh, and both are widely accepted.
- Pedrito — The standard Spanish diminutive, affectionate and used mostly within the family and in childhood.
- Pedrinho — The Portuguese and Brazilian diminutive, common for boys and in sports commentary.
- Perico — A long-established Spanish familiar form; also a common word for a parakeet, so it reads as playful.
- Pete — Used in English-speaking settings by Pedros who work across both languages; borrowed from Peter rather than from Pedro itself.
- Also Pedrão.
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 Pedro if you want…
- a name with more sound in itPedro runs 2 syllables, Prince 1
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Pedrito, Pedrinho and Perico
Choose Prince if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsPrince is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesPrince is 1 syllable to Pedro'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
Pedro
Strengths
- Spelled the same in Spanish, Portuguese and English, with no variant spellings competing for it — rarely misspelled once heard.
- Maps directly onto Peter, Pierre, Pietro and Pere, so it connects a child to relatives with the same name in another language.
- An unbroken record from the medieval Iberian kingdoms to the present, with no gap that would date it to one generation.
To consider
- In English-only settings the vowels get flattened and the tapped r disappears, so the name your family says at home and the name a coach shouts across a field may not sound quite the same.
- The 2004 film Napoleon Dynamite put "Vote for Pedro" on T-shirts, and the phrase still surfaces. It has faded a good deal, but it is worth knowing about.
- Pedro has sometimes been used in American popular culture as a generic stand-in for a Spanish-speaking man, which can invite lazy jokes from people who deal in them.
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 Pedro 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 Pedro 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
- Pop star names on birth certificates
- Royal title names: King, Reign, Royal
- Names ending in -ce
- all guides
Where Pedro and Prince each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Pedro or Prince — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Pedro or Prince?
- Prince, in 2025: Prince ranked #447 with 703 babies; Pedro ranked #455 with 684 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Pedro or Prince?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Pedro moved down 45 places; Prince moved down 132 places.
- Which is the older name, Pedro or Prince?
- The US record cannot say: both were already in use when it began in 1880.
- How many people are named Pedro and Prince?
- About 77,500 people named Pedro 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 Pedros or Princes in the classroom?
- Pedro 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. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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