Head to head · Boys' names
Saint vs Shiloh
#267 vs #278 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Saint is a whisker ahead (#267 vs #278 in 2025) and both are climbing the charts fast. 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, Saint leads 4 measures of 6; Shiloh 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
- 1890s: Saint #787, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1900s: Saint #1345, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1910s: Saint #2358, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1920s: Saint #2589, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1930s: Saint #3214, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1940s: Saint #2744, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1950s: Saint #2958, Shiloh — — Saint higher
- 1960s: Saint #3830, Shiloh #3595 — Shiloh higher
- 1970s: Saint #4790, Shiloh #1380 — Shiloh higher
- 1980s: Saint #5977, Shiloh #1723 — Shiloh higher
- 1990s: Saint #7228, Shiloh #1591 — Shiloh higher
- 2000s: Saint #6479, Shiloh #1544 — Shiloh higher
- 2010s: Saint #2693, Shiloh #946 — Shiloh higher
- 2020s: Saint #375, Shiloh #446 — Saint higher
Saint stood higher in 8 of 14 decades; Saint took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Saint | Shiloh |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | #787 | — |
| 1900s | #1345 | — |
| 1910s | #2358 | — |
| 1920s | #2589 | — |
| 1930s | #3214 | — |
| 1940s | #2744 | — |
| 1950s | #2958 | — |
| 1960s | #3830 | #3595 |
| 1970s | #4790 | #1380 |
| 1980s | #5977 | #1723 |
| 1990s | #7228 | #1591 |
| 2000s | #6479 | #1544 |
| 2010s | #2693 | #946 |
| 2020s | #375 | #446 |
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
Saint
Holy, consecrated
From Latin sanctus, the past participle of sancire, "to consecrate." In English the word became the title placed before a canonized person's name.
sancire (Latin) → sanctus → saint (Old French) → seint (Middle English) → Saint
How it traveled
The root is the Latin verb sancire, to make sacred; its participle sanctus was used in the early Church for the holy dead, and Old French wore it down to saint. Middle English borrowed it whole, and it settled into English mostly as a title and as an element in place names and surnames — St.
Shiloh
a place name, often read as "tranquil" or "place of rest"
The common reading links Shiloh to the Hebrew root shalah, "to be quiet, at ease," giving a sense of rest or tranquility. Hebraists also treat it as an old place name whose origin is simply not recoverable. A separate puzzle sits in Genesis 49:10, "until Shiloh comes," a line read by some traditions as naming the town and by others as a title — that ambiguity is centuries old and has never been resolved.
שִׁילֹה (Shiloh, Hebrew place name) → Σηλώ (Sēlō, Greek Septuagint) → Silo (Latin Vulgate) → Shiloh (English)
How it traveled
In the Hebrew Bible, Shiloh is the sanctuary town in the hill country of Ephraim where the Tabernacle stood and the Ark of the Covenant rested before it moved to Jerusalem; archaeologists place it at Khirbet Seilun, north of Jerusalem. Greek translators rendered it Sēlō and the Latin Vulgate Silo, so the name entered European Bibles as geography rather than as a given 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
Saint
SAYNT
Exactly like the English word. One syllable, no regional variation to speak of.
- Sainty — An informal family diminutive; it does not stand alone as a given name.
- Saint — The name is short enough that most bearers simply go by it in full, formal and informal alike.
Shiloh
SHY-loh
Two syllables, stress on the first. The spelling points clearly to this pronunciation for most English speakers. A closer-to-Hebrew shee-LOH is heard occasionally, so it is worth saying aloud which one you mean when you introduce the name.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Saint if you want…
- a name most people already know#267 in 2025, 1,286 babies that year
- a name with fewer syllablesSaint is 1 syllable to Shiloh's 2
- plenty of nickname options2 recorded short forms — Sainty and Saint
Choose Shiloh if you want…
- a name fewer children share#278 in 2025 — shiloh will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name on the way upup 337 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itShiloh runs 2 syllables, Saint 1
- a name that stays wholeno recorded short form for Shiloh
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
Saint
Strengths
- Spelling and pronunciation are already known to every English speaker — nothing to repeat, correct or dictate over the phone.
- A single syllable, which sits easily in front of long or multi-syllable surnames.
- The root travels: Santo, Santos and San are recognizable across Spanish, Italian and Portuguese.
To consider
- It is an explicitly religious word, and it announces itself as one. In some families that is the point; in others it may invite more comment at introductions than a parent expects.
- The "he's no saint" joke is easy and will get made, in school and later. Most bearers grow a shrug for it, but it is worth knowing it is coming.
- Almost everyone carrying it is a small child, and the name is climbing quickly. It will feel distinctly of this moment for a long while, and it may be noticeably less rare by the time your child reaches school.
Shiloh
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar from the Bible and from American maps, so most people read it correctly at first sight.
- One name, one pronunciation: SHY-loh follows straight from the letters.
- Used in near-equal measure for boys and girls, so it needs no adjustment either way.
To consider
- The boy–girl split is close to even, which means strangers reading the name on a form genuinely cannot tell, and will sometimes guess wrong. Neither side is the minority, but neither is the default either.
- Shiloh in American ears also means the 1862 battle, one of the bloodiest of the Civil War. Some people will mention it; the association is historical rather than unpleasant, and it fades with the generations.
- Nicknames are not obvious. Shy and Lo both get used, and Shy carries a meaning of its own in English that some children would rather not answer to.
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 Saint and Shiloh 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 Saint and Shiloh?
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.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap
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 Saint and Shiloh — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Saint or Shiloh — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Saint or Shiloh?
- Saint, in 2025: Saint ranked #267 with 1,286 babies; Shiloh ranked #278 with 1,220 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Saint or Shiloh?
- Shiloh. Over the last five years Saint moved up 304 places; Shiloh moved up 337 places.
- Which is the older name, Saint or Shiloh?
- Saint entered the US charts in 1896; Shiloh entered the US charts in 1969. On the American record, Saint is the older name.
- How many people are named Saint and Shiloh?
- About 6,900 people named Saint are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 9,300 people named Shiloh are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Saints or Shilohs in the classroom?
- Saint will almost certainly be the only one in school. Shiloh 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 Saint, Shiloh and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
Free to start · no account needed · everyone you invite votes in one tap