Head to head · Girls' names
Raven vs Regina
#404 vs #395 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Regina is a whisker ahead (#395 vs #404 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.
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, Regina leads 6 measures of 6; Raven 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: Raven —, Regina #251 — Regina higher
- 1890s: Raven —, Regina #231 — Regina higher
- 1900s: Raven —, Regina #208 — Regina higher
- 1910s: Raven —, Regina #193 — Regina higher
- 1920s: Raven —, Regina #194 — Regina higher
- 1930s: Raven —, Regina #232 — Regina higher
- 1940s: Raven #4003, Regina #194 — Regina higher
- 1950s: Raven #4855, Regina #130 — Regina higher
- 1960s: Raven #3847, Regina #88 — Regina higher
- 1970s: Raven #2711, Regina #112 — Regina higher
- 1980s: Raven #521, Regina #197 — Regina higher
- 1990s: Raven #167, Regina #395 — Raven higher
- 2000s: Raven #371, Regina #615 — Raven higher
- 2010s: Raven #501, Regina #501
- 2020s: Raven #397, Regina #379 — Regina higher
Regina stood higher in 12 of 14 decades; Regina took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Raven | Regina |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #251 |
| 1890s | — | #231 |
| 1900s | — | #208 |
| 1910s | — | #193 |
| 1920s | — | #194 |
| 1930s | — | #232 |
| 1940s | #4003 | #194 |
| 1950s | #4855 | #130 |
| 1960s | #3847 | #88 |
| 1970s | #2711 | #112 |
| 1980s | #521 | #197 |
| 1990s | #167 | #395 |
| 2000s | #371 | #615 |
| 2010s | #501 | #501 |
| 2020s | #397 | #379 |
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
Raven
raven (the bird)
From Old English hræfn, going back to a Proto-Germanic word thought to imitate the bird's call; German Rabe and Old Norse hrafn are the same word.
Proto-Germanic *hrabnaz → Old English hræfn → Middle English raven → Raven
How it traveled
Raven is a word name: English speakers have called the bird a raven for well over a thousand years, and the spelling has barely shifted. Long before it was a given name in America, the raven element was doing work inside Germanic names — the -hram in Bertram, the -fram in Wolfram — and Old Norse used Hrafn on its own as a man's name, which Icelandic still carries alongside the feminine Hrefna.
Regina
queen
From Latin regina, queen. In Christian use it echoes Mary's title Regina Caeli, Queen of Heaven.
regina → Regina
How it traveled
The Salve Regina, Hail Holy Queen, is one of the oldest hymns to Mary, sung at the close of the day, and Columbus's journal records his crews singing it at dusk on the Atlantic. The name came from that devotion into Catholic families across Europe and America.
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
Raven
RAY-vun
Two syllables, stress on the first, exactly like the bird. No competing pronunciation in English.
- Rae — The most portable short form, and a standalone given name in its own right.
- Rav — Informal, mostly spoken rather than written.
- Ravie — Affectionate family use, rarely used outside the household.
Regina
ruh-JEE-nuh
Stress on the second syllable. The Canadian city is ruh-JY-nuh, and in German and Italian the g is hard: reh-GEE-nah.
- Gina — The most common short form, a name in its own right.
- Reggie — A lively short form, more often a boy's.
- Ina — Taken from the end; soft and quiet.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Raven if you want…
- a name holding steadyRaven is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesRaven is 2 syllables to Regina's 3
- a newer arrivalRaven entered the US charts in 1941
Choose Regina if you want…
- a name on the way upup 37 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRegina runs 3 syllables, Raven 2
- a long American recordRegina was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Raven
Strengths
- Spelled the way the ordinary English word is spelled, so it survives dictation over the phone without correction.
- Read correctly on sight by anyone who speaks English; there is no second pronunciation to fend off.
- Yields Rae, a short form that already stands on its own as a name.
To consider
- In Western literature the raven is a bird of omen — Poe's 1845 poem is the reference most English speakers reach for first. In Haida and Tlingit storytelling the same bird is a creator and trickster. Both associations travel with the name.
- US records list Raven overwhelmingly as a girl's name. It is given to boys too, but rarely enough that a boy named Raven will spend some time explaining it.
- Raven is also a familiar character name in comics and animation, which means a stretch of years where the reference gets mentioned. That fades as the shows do.
Regina
Strengths
- Its meaning, queen, is clear and dignified.
- Gina, Reggie and Ina give three different short forms.
- It is familiar across many languages.
To consider
- Many people associate it with a particular generation of women.
- The city's name is said differently, and some will make rhyming jokes about 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 Raven and Regina 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 Raven and Regina?
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
- Bird names taking flight
- Science-fiction names in real use
- Names with an edge
- Gothic names with candlelit edges
- all guides
Where Raven and Regina each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Raven or Regina — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Raven or Regina?
- Regina, in 2025: Regina ranked #395 with 786 babies; Raven ranked #404 with 771 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Raven or Regina?
- Regina. Over the last five years Raven moved up 13 places; Regina moved up 37 places.
- Which is the older name, Raven or Regina?
- Raven entered the US charts in 1941; Regina was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Regina is the older name.
- How many people are named Raven and Regina?
- About 44,500 people named Raven are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 141,000 people named Regina are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Ravens or Reginas in the classroom?
- Raven will almost certainly be the only one in school. Regina 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
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Raven, Regina and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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