Head to head · Girls' names
Persephone vs Ramona
#734 vs #733 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Ramona is a whisker ahead (#733 vs #734 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Each name in full: Persephone · Ramona
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, Ramona leads 5 measures of 6; Persephone 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
Persephone — holding its place on the charts. About 4,900 people named Persephone are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Ramona — holding its place on the charts. About 46,000 people named Ramona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
Who owned which decade
- 1880s: Persephone —, Ramona #810 — Ramona higher
- 1890s: Persephone —, Ramona #644 — Ramona higher
- 1900s: Persephone —, Ramona #504 — Ramona higher
- 1910s: Persephone —, Ramona #383 — Ramona higher
- 1920s: Persephone —, Ramona #282 — Ramona higher
- 1930s: Persephone —, Ramona #184 — Ramona higher
- 1940s: Persephone —, Ramona #250 — Ramona higher
- 1950s: Persephone —, Ramona #210 — Ramona higher
- 1960s: Persephone #5966, Ramona #241 — Ramona higher
- 1970s: Persephone #5833, Ramona #396 — Ramona higher
- 1980s: Persephone #8235, Ramona #767 — Ramona higher
- 1990s: Persephone #6293, Ramona #1520 — Ramona higher
- 2000s: Persephone #3743, Ramona #2107 — Ramona higher
- 2010s: Persephone #1320, Ramona #1107 — Ramona higher
- 2020s: Persephone #748, Ramona #779 — Persephone higher
Ramona stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Persephone took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Persephone | Ramona |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #810 |
| 1890s | — | #644 |
| 1900s | — | #504 |
| 1910s | — | #383 |
| 1920s | — | #282 |
| 1930s | — | #184 |
| 1940s | — | #250 |
| 1950s | — | #210 |
| 1960s | #5966 | #241 |
| 1970s | #5833 | #396 |
| 1980s | #8235 | #767 |
| 1990s | #6293 | #1520 |
| 2000s | #3743 | #2107 |
| 2010s | #1320 | #1107 |
| 2020s | #748 | #779 |
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
Persephone
Not established
No one has settled it. The name resists Greek explanation, and ancient sources spell it several different ways — Persephone, Persephassa, Phersephone — which is usually a sign of a word borrowed into Greek from an older language of the region rather than built inside it. Ancient Greek writers themselves reached for a folk etymology linking it to words for bringing destruction, but that reading is a guess made by people already living with the myth. What is documented: she was also called simply Kore, 'the maiden'.
Περσεφόνη (Persephónē) → Proserpina (Latin) → Persephone (English)
How it traveled
The name belongs first to Greek myth, where Persephone is the daughter of Demeter, carried off to the underworld and returned for part of each year — the story the Homeric Hymn to Demeter tells at length, and the story ancient Greeks read as an account of why the growing season comes and goes. Her cult at Eleusis kept the name in ritual use for centuries.
Ramona
protecting counsel, from Germanic elements meaning advice and protection
The parts are ragin, 'counsel, advice', and mund, 'protection' — the same pair behind Raymond.
Raginmund → Raimund → Ramón → Ramona
How it traveled
The root is Germanic: Raginmund, built from words for counsel and protection, carried into Spain and southern France by Visigothic and Frankish speakers. In Spanish it wore down to Ramón, and Ramona was formed from it as the feminine — a pattern Spanish uses freely.
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
Persephone
per-SEF-uh-nee
Four syllables, stress on the second, and the last syllable rhymes with 'knee' — not 'phone'. Anyone who has met Penelope or Antigone will land on it without help; some people need to be told once.
- Persie — The most common everyday short form among English-speaking families; informal only.
- Seph — Clipped from the middle of the name; used informally and works across ages.
- Sephy — Softer version of Seph, more often heard with small children.
- Percy — Borrowed from the first syllables; also stands alone as a traditional boys' name in English, so it reads as unisex.
- Also Effie.
Ramona
ruh-MOH-nuh
Stress on the middle syllable. In Spanish it is rah-MOH-nah, with a clearer first vowel and a tapped r — both versions are correct depending on which language the family is speaking.
- Mona — The oldest and most common short form, and a standalone given name in its own right in several languages.
- Romy — A modern clipping, also used independently as a given name.
- Ro — Very informal, mostly within families.
- Rae — Informal, drawn from the first syllable; also a given name on its own.
- Also Mo.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Persephone if you want…
- a name on the way upup 84 places on the charts in five years
Choose Ramona if you want…
- a name holding steadyRamona is holding its place on the charts
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
Persephone
Strengths
- A written record stretching back to archaic Greece, with the spelling essentially unchanged.
- Several real short forms already in use — Persie, Seph, Sephy — so there is an everyday option built in.
- Follows the familiar Greek four-syllable stress pattern of Penelope, so most readers guess it correctly.
To consider
- The myth is not a gentle one — abduction, the underworld, a bargain about the dead. Most people think first of spring returning, but some will think of the darker half, and it comes up often enough that it is worth being ready for.
- Expect a share of people saying 'per-se-PHONE' on first sight, and a lifetime of gentle corrections. The name is long for forms, name tags and school worksheets.
- Its use is heavily concentrated among very young children right now, so it reads as a contemporary choice rather than a family-heirloom one, despite its age.
Ramona
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds and read correctly on sight by most English speakers, with no competing variants to explain.
- Works unchanged in Spanish, Catalan and Romanian — useful in a bilingual family.
- An unbroken run in American records going back to the nineteenth century, so it has never needed reintroducing.
To consider
- The children's books about Ramona Quimby are still widely read, so a child may meet her own name in a classroom read-aloud — often a delight, occasionally the source of a teasing nickname from the title Ramona the Pest.
- It is currently far more common among older generations than among children, which means a Ramona today will likely be the only one in her school and may be told the name belonged to someone's aunt.
- People who know the name will spell it fine; people who don't sometimes reach for Romona or Ramonda, so expect an occasional correction.
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 Persephone and Ramona 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 Persephone and Ramona?
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
Where Persephone and Ramona each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Persephone or Ramona — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Persephone or Ramona?
- Ramona, in 2025: Ramona ranked #733 with 373 babies; Persephone ranked #734 with 372 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Persephone or Ramona?
- Persephone. Over the last five years Persephone moved up 84 places; Ramona moved up 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Persephone or Ramona?
- Persephone entered the US charts in 1962; Ramona entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Ramona is the older name.
- How many people are named Persephone and Ramona?
- About 4,900 people named Persephone are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 46,000 people named Ramona are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Persephones or Ramonas in the classroom?
- Persephone will almost certainly be the only one in school. Ramona 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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