Head to head · Girls' names
Samira vs Sol
#723 vs #722 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Sol is a whisker ahead (#722 vs #723 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, Sol leads 5 measures of 6; Samira leads 1.
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
- 1950s: Samira —, Sol #5132 — Sol higher
- 1960s: Samira #4989, Sol #4334 — Sol higher
- 1970s: Samira #3179, Sol #4030 — Samira higher
- 1980s: Samira #1913, Sol #5798 — Samira higher
- 1990s: Samira #1402, Sol #4937 — Samira higher
- 2000s: Samira #1033, Sol #2611 — Samira higher
- 2010s: Samira #1061, Sol #2020 — Samira higher
- 2020s: Samira #821, Sol #924 — Samira higher
Samira stood higher in 6 of 8 decades; Samira has held the lead since the 1970s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Samira | Sol |
|---|---|---|
| 1950s | — | #5132 |
| 1960s | #4989 | #4334 |
| 1970s | #3179 | #4030 |
| 1980s | #1913 | #5798 |
| 1990s | #1402 | #4937 |
| 2000s | #1033 | #2611 |
| 2010s | #1061 | #2020 |
| 2020s | #821 | #924 |
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
Samira
companion in evening conversation
From the Arabic root s-m-r, tied to samar, nighttime talk and storytelling. Often rendered more loosely as 'entertaining companion' or 'pleasant conversationalist'.
samar (Arabic: evening talk) → Samīr → Samīra → Samira
How it traveled
Samira is the feminine form of the Arabic name Samir, both built on the root s-m-r and its noun samar — the talk that happens after sunset. The name spread far beyond Arabic with Islam and with Arabic literary influence, taking hold in Persian, Turkish, Urdu, Swahili-speaking and Bosnian naming alike, so that a Samira in Sarajevo and a Samira in Cairo carry the same word.
Sol
"Sun" in Latin, Spanish and Portuguese — though a second, separate Sol means something else entirely
Two different names share this spelling. The Spanish and Portuguese Sol is the ordinary word for the sun, and also serves as the short form of Marisol and Soledad. The English and Yiddish Sol is a clipped form of Solomon (Hebrew Shlomo, from shalom, "peace") and sometimes of Saul. Which meaning a particular Sol carries depends on which family gave it.
Latin sol → Spanish Sol → Soledad / Marisol → Sol
How it traveled
Latin sol passed into the Romance languages as the plain word for the sun, and Spanish speakers have long used it as a given name in its own right, as well as the short form for Soledad and Marisol — a pattern still strong in Argentina and across Latin America. On a separate track, Norse mythology names the sun Sól, a figure recorded in the medieval Icelandic Eddas.
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
Samira
sa-MEE-rah
Stress falls on the long middle syllable. In Arabic the final vowel is short and clipped; American speakers usually give it a fuller -ah. A minority say SAM-ih-ra, so one correction at the start of a school year is worth expecting.
- Sam — The everyday short form in English-speaking settings; shared with Samuel, Samantha and Sam as a standalone name.
- Sammy — Informal, used mostly within families and among children.
- Mira — Takes the stressed middle of the name; also a full given name in its own right in several languages.
- Sami — Common in Arabic- and Bosnian-speaking families; also an independent masculine name.
- Also Sam-Sam.
Sol
SOHL
One syllable, rhyming with goal. In Spanish the vowel is shorter and purer than in English, closer to a clipped SOL. Expect an occasional mishearing as Saul or Sal over the phone.
- Sol — Already the short form of Soledad, Marisol, Solange, Solomon and Saul; used as a full given name in its own right in all of those traditions.
- Solly — Informal, long attached to the Solomon line; still heard among older bearers.
- Sole — Informal Spanish alternative, mostly where the full name is Soledad.
- Solita — Spanish diminutive, affectionate and family-level rather than everyday.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Samira if you want…
- a name with more sound in itSamira runs 3 syllables, Sol 1
Choose Sol if you want…
- a name on the way upup 502 places on the charts in five years
- a name with fewer syllablesSol is 1 syllable to Samira's 3
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
Samira
Strengths
- Works unchanged across Arabic, Persian, Turkish, Bosnian and Swahili-speaking families — the same spelling, the same sound, no translation needed.
- Spelled the way it sounds for most English speakers, with no silent letters or unusual clusters.
- Ready-made short forms already in real use: Sam, Sammy, Mira.
To consider
- Sameera, Samirah and Samera all exist on American paperwork, so she will sometimes have to spell it out — and will occasionally receive mail addressed to one of the others.
- It sits close to Samara, Samantha and the masculine Samir, and gets muddled with all three by people hearing it quickly.
- The most obvious short form, Sam, is shared with a long list of other names, so it carries less of the original with it than Mira does.
Sol
Strengths
- Three letters, one syllable, and no spelling ambiguity — it is written the way it sounds in English, Spanish and Portuguese alike.
- Works both as a full name and as the established short form of Soledad, Marisol, Solange and Solomon, so a longer formal name can be added later or not at all.
- A documented record in two separate traditions — Spanish-speaking families and Jewish American families — meaning it is familiar to a lot of people without being common.
To consider
- It is a word before it is a name — the sun in Spanish, a musical note in solfège, the currency of Peru. Most Sols find that unremarkable, but it does mean the name gets recognized rather than asked about.
- In English it sounds identical to "soul" and close to "sole," which invites the occasional pun and a certain amount of spelling-it-out over the phone.
- The two roads run in different directions: in Spanish-speaking contexts Sol reads clearly as a girl's name, while the older American Sol was almost always a man named Solomon. Either way, some people will guess wrong before they meet the child.
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 Samira and Sol 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 Samira and Sol?
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
- Arabic names in American use
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Borrowed from the boys: names girls are winning
- One-syllable names: said in a single beat
- all guides
Where Samira and Sol each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Samira or Sol — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Samira or Sol?
- Sol, in 2025: Sol ranked #722 with 389 babies; Samira ranked #723 with 387 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Samira or Sol?
- Sol. Over the last five years Samira moved up 202 places; Sol moved up 502 places.
- Which is the older name, Samira or Sol?
- Samira entered the US charts in 1961; Sol entered the US charts in 1953. On the American record, Sol is the older name.
- How many people are named Samira and Sol?
- About 8,800 people named Samira are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,000 people named Sol are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Samiras or Sols in the classroom?
- Samira will almost certainly be the only one in school. Sol 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 Samira, Sol and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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