Head to head · Girls' names
Sadie vs Scarlett
#50 vs #32 in 2025
Scarlett is a whisker ahead (#32 vs #50 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Scarlett is stepping back from its peak, Sadie is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Sadie 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
On the charts, Scarlett leads 4 measures of 6; Sadie 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: Sadie #70, Scarlett — — Sadie higher
- 1890s: Sadie #74, Scarlett — — Sadie higher
- 1900s: Sadie #92, Scarlett — — Sadie higher
- 1910s: Sadie #130, Scarlett — — Sadie higher
- 1920s: Sadie #193, Scarlett — — Sadie higher
- 1930s: Sadie #248, Scarlett #3570 — Sadie higher
- 1940s: Sadie #356, Scarlett #1120 — Sadie higher
- 1950s: Sadie #601, Scarlett #1395 — Sadie higher
- 1960s: Sadie #1017, Scarlett #1095 — Sadie higher
- 1970s: Sadie #867, Scarlett #1264 — Sadie higher
- 1980s: Sadie #621, Scarlett #1180 — Sadie higher
- 1990s: Sadie #340, Scarlett #898 — Sadie higher
- 2000s: Sadie #171, Scarlett #529 — Sadie higher
- 2010s: Sadie #81, Scarlett #43 — Scarlett higher
- 2020s: Sadie #65, Scarlett #22 — Scarlett higher
Sadie stood higher in 13 of 15 decades; Scarlett has held the lead since the 2010s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Sadie | Scarlett |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #70 | — |
| 1890s | #74 | — |
| 1900s | #92 | — |
| 1910s | #130 | — |
| 1920s | #193 | — |
| 1930s | #248 | #3570 |
| 1940s | #356 | #1120 |
| 1950s | #601 | #1395 |
| 1960s | #1017 | #1095 |
| 1970s | #867 | #1264 |
| 1980s | #621 | #1180 |
| 1990s | #340 | #898 |
| 2000s | #171 | #529 |
| 2010s | #81 | #43 |
| 2020s | #65 | #22 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Sadie
- Scotland#59
- Canada#69
Scarlett
- Canada#41
- England & Wales#79
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Sadie
Princess, noblewoman — through Sarah
Sadie carries the meaning of its parent name: Hebrew Sarah, "princess" or "noblewoman." How Sarah picked up a d on the way to Sadie is not explained, but the same thing happened to Sally, which took an l.
Sarai → Sarah → Sadie
How it traveled
The root is the Hebrew name Sarah, borne in Genesis by Abraham's wife, who is called Sarai before the change. English speakers wore Sarah down into pet forms over centuries — Sally in one direction, Sadie in another — and by the nineteenth century Sadie was standing alone on documents rather than hiding behind a formal name.
Scarlett
From scarlet — the cloth, and later the color; originally an occupational surname for a dyer or seller of scarlet cloth
The English surname comes through Old French escarlate, a word for a costly cloth. Only later did scarlet come to name the red itself, which is why the name reads today as a color word rather than a trade.
escarlate (Old French, a fine cloth) → scarlat (Middle English) → Scarlett (English surname) → Scarlett (given name)
How it traveled
The word traveled west into Old French as escarlate and into Middle English as scarlat, naming an expensive imported fabric. From it came the English surname Scarlett, attested for centuries in records before anyone thought to put it in front of a family name.
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
Sadie
SAY-dee
One pronunciation, and English spelling rules deliver it on the first try. Note that the similar-looking Sade, the singer's name, is said shah-DAY — a different name entirely.
- Sades — Informal, mostly spoken among friends and siblings; rarely written down.
- Sadie Mae — A double-name pattern with long use in the American South, used affectionately rather than formally.
- Sarah — Works in reverse: parents who want a longer legal name often register Sarah and use Sadie every day.
Scarlett
SKAR-lit
Stress on the first syllable. The second is said either -lit or -let depending on accent, and both pass without comment. English speakers read it correctly on sight because it is also an everyday word.
- Lettie — Taken from the final syllable; informal, and also stands alone as an older given name in its own right.
- Letty — Same short form, spelled the shorter way; informal home and family use.
- Scarlie — Affectionate family clipping, mostly used with young children.
- Scar — The blunt playground shortening; some families head it off early, others never hear it at all.
Who has carried each name
Sadie
Sadie Sink (b. 2002) — Stranger Things' Max
Scarlett
Scarlett Johansson (b. 1984) — Marvel's Black Widow, once the world's highest-paid actress
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Sadie if you want…
- a name fewer children share#50 in 2025 — sadie will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 28 places on the charts in five years
- a long American recordSadie was already in use when US records began in 1880
- a name that ages quietlyan estimated 54% chance of feeling dated by 2040, against 82% for Scarlett
Choose Scarlett if you want…
- a name most people already know#32 in 2025, 5,644 babies that year
- a name past its most crowded yearsScarlett is stepping back from its peak
- a newer arrivalScarlett entered the US charts in 1937
- a name that feels very nowScarlett is stepping back from its peak
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
Sadie
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds, and short enough that a child can write it early.
- Sarah stands behind it if a longer, more formal legal name is wanted, without changing the everyday name at all.
- Unbroken presence in American records since the earliest years of the data, so it reads as old rather than newly coined.
To consider
- It is climbing steadily. A name that is uncommon in a classroom today may be considerably more familiar by the time she starts school.
- It began life as a nickname, and some ears still hear it that way — worth thinking about how it will sit on a résumé or a nameplate.
- Expect the occasional mix-up in writing with Sade, and the occasional person who reaches for Sarah instead.
Scarlett
Strengths
- Pronounced correctly on sight by any English speaker — it is a word people already know how to say.
- A documented surname in England for centuries before it became a first name, so the record behind it is long and real.
- In steady use across the United States, Canada and Britain, with the same spelling and sound in all three.
To consider
- The color word takes one t; the name usually takes two. Expect a lifetime of gently correcting Scarlet to Scarlett.
- The name arrived in English through one famous novel about the antebellum South, a book now widely criticized for how it portrays slavery. Some parents mind that link; many no longer think of it.
- Scar is the obvious clipping, and children find it fast. Worth knowing in advance rather than being surprised by it.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Sadie
54%chance Sadie feels dated by 2040
Sadie is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
Scarlett
82%chance Scarlett feels dated by 2040
Scarlett is coming down from a big peak (#14 in 2022). This is the stretch of the cycle where a name starts to sound like the decade it ruled.
A reading of where each name sits on the long naming cycle — computed, not measured, and explained on the data page.
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 Sadie and Scarlett 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 Sadie and Scarlett?
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 Sadie and Scarlett — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Sadie or Scarlett — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Sadie or Scarlett?
- Scarlett, in 2025: Scarlett ranked #32 with 5,644 babies; Sadie ranked #50 with 4,168 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Sadie or Scarlett?
- Sadie. Over the last five years Sadie moved up 28 places; Scarlett moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Sadie or Scarlett?
- Sadie was already in use when US records began in 1880; Scarlett entered the US charts in 1937. On the American record, Sadie is the older name.
- How many people are named Sadie and Scarlett?
- About 99,500 people named Sadie are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 111,000 people named Scarlett are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Sadies or Scarletts in the classroom?
- Sadie will almost certainly be the only one in school. Scarlett will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
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