Head to head · Girls' names
Sabrina vs Serena
#321 vs #325 in 2025 · both back after a long quiet spell
Sabrina is a whisker ahead (#321 vs #325 in 2025) and both are back after a long quiet spell. 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, Sabrina leads 4 measures of 6; Serena 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: Sabrina —, Serena #572 — Serena higher
- 1890s: Sabrina —, Serena #715 — Serena higher
- 1900s: Sabrina —, Serena #786 — Serena higher
- 1910s: Sabrina #4334, Serena #1027 — Serena higher
- 1920s: Sabrina —, Serena #1235 — Serena higher
- 1930s: Sabrina #3782, Serena #1255 — Serena higher
- 1940s: Sabrina #3999, Serena #1063 — Serena higher
- 1950s: Sabrina #1298, Serena #977 — Serena higher
- 1960s: Sabrina #263, Serena #704 — Sabrina higher
- 1970s: Sabrina #135, Serena #425 — Sabrina higher
- 1980s: Sabrina #118, Serena #433 — Sabrina higher
- 1990s: Sabrina #90, Serena #366 — Sabrina higher
- 2000s: Sabrina #159, Serena #318 — Sabrina higher
- 2010s: Sabrina #334, Serena #428 — Sabrina higher
- 2020s: Sabrina #379, Serena #371 — Serena higher
Serena stood higher in 9 of 15 decades; Serena took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Sabrina | Serena |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #572 |
| 1890s | — | #715 |
| 1900s | — | #786 |
| 1910s | #4334 | #1027 |
| 1920s | — | #1235 |
| 1930s | #3782 | #1255 |
| 1940s | #3999 | #1063 |
| 1950s | #1298 | #977 |
| 1960s | #263 | #704 |
| 1970s | #135 | #425 |
| 1980s | #118 | #433 |
| 1990s | #90 | #366 |
| 2000s | #159 | #318 |
| 2010s | #334 | #428 |
| 2020s | #379 | #371 |
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
Sabrina
From Sabrina, the Roman name for the River Severn in Britain
That the name is the river's name is not in doubt. What the river name itself meant is another matter: it predates the Roman record and no reading has been established, so the trail stops at the water.
Sabrina (Roman name of the River Severn) → Hafren (Welsh) → Severn (English) → Sabrina (given name)
How it traveled
Geoffrey of Monmouth's Historia Regum Britanniae, written in the twelfth century, tells of Habren, a king's illegitimate daughter drowned in the river that afterwards bore her name — the Welsh Hafren, the Latin Sabrina, the English Severn. John Milton made her a river goddess in his masque Comus in the 1630s, and from there Sabrina passed into English poetry as a name for the Severn's spirit.
Serena
calm, clear, tranquil
From Latin serenus, used of cloudless skies and untroubled water; the same root gives English serene.
serenus (Latin, 'clear, calm') → Serena (Roman name) → Serena
How it traveled
The Latin adjective serenus described bright, still weather, and by the Roman imperial period it had become a personal name. One documented bearer was Serena, niece of the emperor Theodosius I and wife of the general Stilicho, at the turn of the fifth century.
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
Sabrina
suh-BREE-nuh
Stress on the middle syllable. The pronunciation holds steady across English, Spanish, Italian and German, which is unusual for a three-syllable name.
- Bri — Informal, and the most common short form; also spelled Bree, where it stands alone as a given name.
- Sab — Informal, family-and-friends use rather than anything written down.
- Rina — Informal; also a full given name in its own right in Italian and Japanese contexts.
- Sabby — Affectionate, mostly used with children.
- Also Bina.
Serena
suh-REE-nuh
Italian and Spanish speakers say seh-REH-nah, with the middle vowel like the 'e' in 'bed'. Both are correct for the same name; it is worth deciding which one your family will use.
- Rena — The most established short form; also used on its own as a given name in English, German and Hebrew contexts.
- Sera — Informal clipping of the first syllables; overlaps in sound with Sarah, which can cause a moment's confusion.
- Sere — Common in Italian usage, said SEH-reh rather than rhyming with English 'sear'.
- Reni — Affectionate family form built from Rena, mostly used at home rather than on paper.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Sabrina if you want…
- a newer arrivalSabrina entered the US charts in 1916
Choose Serena if you want…
- a name on the way upup 96 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordSerena 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
Sabrina
Strengths
- A spelling almost everyone in the US already knows how to write, thanks to decades of film and television use.
- Says itself the same way in English, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and German — useful in a bilingual family.
- Several ready-made short forms, from Bri to Rina, without needing to be shortened.
To consider
- The comic and television witch is still the first association for a lot of people, and it comes with a joke or two attached. It has faded considerably, but it has not gone.
- Bri and Bree are shared territory with Brianna, Brielle and Briana, so the short form will not be distinctive even if the full name is.
- Sabina is a separate, older Roman name that looks and sounds close enough to cause the occasional mix-up in writing and over the phone.
Serena
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, and already familiar to readers as the word serene — rarely needs repeating or clarifying.
- Written identically in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese and German, so it crosses borders without changing shape.
- A documented record stretching from Roman antiquity through Elizabethan poetry to the present day.
To consider
- For many people in the US the name belongs first to one extraordinarily famous tennis player. That is a warm association rather than a difficult one, but it is a strong one, and it will come up.
- The meaning is unusually transparent, so expect remarks about calmness and serenity from strangers for years — pleasant enough, but relentless.
- Serina, Sarina and Sirena all exist and sound close, so occasional misspellings are likely even though the name itself is easy to say.
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 Sabrina and Serena 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 Sabrina and Serena?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Sabrina and Serena — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Sabrina or Serena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Sabrina or Serena?
- Sabrina, in 2025: Sabrina ranked #321 with 956 babies; Serena ranked #325 with 942 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Sabrina or Serena?
- Serena. Over the last five years Sabrina moved up 67 places; Serena moved up 96 places.
- Which is the older name, Sabrina or Serena?
- Sabrina entered the US charts in 1916; Serena was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Serena is the older name.
- How many people are named Sabrina and Serena?
- About 138,000 people named Sabrina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 44,500 people named Serena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Sabrinas or Serenas in the classroom?
- Sabrina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Serena 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 Sabrina, Serena and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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