Head to head · Boys' names
Prince vs Uriel
#447 vs #445 in 2025
Uriel is a whisker ahead (#445 vs #447 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Uriel 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, Uriel leads 4 measures of 6; Prince leads 2.
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: Prince #422, Uriel — — Prince higher
- 1890s: Prince #465, Uriel — — Prince higher
- 1900s: Prince #461, Uriel — — Prince higher
- 1910s: Prince #605, Uriel #3065 — Prince higher
- 1920s: Prince #748, Uriel #3039 — Prince higher
- 1930s: Prince #828, Uriel #3257 — Prince higher
- 1940s: Prince #859, Uriel #3207 — Prince higher
- 1950s: Prince #900, Uriel #3019 — Prince higher
- 1960s: Prince #1026, Uriel #2347 — Prince higher
- 1970s: Prince #1104, Uriel #1672 — Prince higher
- 1980s: Prince #738, Uriel #978 — Prince higher
- 1990s: Prince #1007, Uriel #564 — Uriel higher
- 2000s: Prince #832, Uriel #426 — Uriel higher
- 2010s: Prince #400, Uriel #492 — Prince higher
- 2020s: Prince #368, Uriel #476 — Prince higher
Prince stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Prince has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Prince | Uriel |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #422 | — |
| 1890s | #465 | — |
| 1900s | #461 | — |
| 1910s | #605 | #3065 |
| 1920s | #748 | #3039 |
| 1930s | #828 | #3257 |
| 1940s | #859 | #3207 |
| 1950s | #900 | #3019 |
| 1960s | #1026 | #2347 |
| 1970s | #1104 | #1672 |
| 1980s | #738 | #978 |
| 1990s | #1007 | #564 |
| 2000s | #832 | #426 |
| 2010s | #400 | #492 |
| 2020s | #368 | #476 |
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
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.
Uriel
God is my light
From Hebrew ʼur, "light" or "flame", joined to El, "God" — the same divine element that closes Michael, Gabriel and Daniel.
Uriʼel (Hebrew) → Ouriēl (Greek) → Uriel (Latin) → Uriel
How it traveled
Uriel is Hebrew, and it appears in the Hebrew Bible as the name of ordinary men — a Levite in the book of Chronicles among them. Its wider fame came from Jewish writings outside the canon: in 1 Enoch and in 2 Esdras, Uriel is named as one of the archangels, and that identification carried the name through Greek and Latin texts into Christian and later esoteric tradition.
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
Prince
PRINS
One syllable.
Uriel
YOOR-ee-el
English speakers also say OO-ree-el. In Spanish the stress falls on the last syllable: oo-ree-EL. All three are correct in their own settings, so it helps to decide early which one your family will use.
- Uri — The standard short form, and a given name in its own right in Hebrew-speaking families.
- Riel — Used informally, more often where the name is pronounced with the stress on the final syllable.
- Uriel — Frequently used in full — three syllables is short enough that many bearers never shorten it at all.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
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 Uriel's 2
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Prince
- a long American recordPrince was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Uriel if you want…
- a name on the way upup 20 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itUriel runs 2 syllables, Prince 1
- plenty of nickname options3 recorded short forms — Uri, Riel and Uriel
- a newer arrivalUriel entered the US charts in 1913
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
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.
Uriel
Strengths
- A meaning that is settled rather than debated, and one parents can state in four words: God is my light.
- Works unchanged in English, Spanish, Portuguese and French — useful in a bilingual family or an extended one.
- Shares its ending with Gabriel, Daniel and Michael, so the shape is instantly readable to people who have never seen it before.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations, English and Spanish, means a lifetime of small corrections — or of answering to both. Neither is wrong, which is the awkward part.
- It sits close to Ariel and Uriah in sound and in print, and gets misheard as both. Uriah in particular carries its own baggage from Dickens.
- The archangel association is stronger than with most -el names, since Uriel is chiefly known from angel writings rather than from a biblical narrative. Some families welcome that; others would rather the name arrive without it.
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 Prince and Uriel 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 Prince and Uriel?
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
- Quiet perennials: a century old, never popular
- all guides
Where Prince and Uriel each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Prince or Uriel — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Prince or Uriel?
- Uriel, in 2025: Uriel ranked #445 with 708 babies; Prince ranked #447 with 703 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Prince or Uriel?
- Uriel. Over the last five years Prince moved down 132 places; Uriel moved up 20 places.
- Which is the older name, Prince or Uriel?
- Prince was already in use when US records began in 1880; Uriel entered the US charts in 1913. On the American record, Prince is the older name.
- How many people are named Prince and Uriel?
- About 20,000 people named Prince are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 20,500 people named Uriel are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Princes or Uriels in the classroom?
- Prince will almost certainly be the only one in school. Uriel 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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