Head to head · Girls' names
Seraphina vs Siena
#599 vs #610 in 2025
Seraphina is a whisker ahead (#599 vs #610 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Seraphina is climbing the charts fast, Siena is holding its place on the charts.
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, Seraphina leads 5 measures of 6; Siena 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
- 1910s: Seraphina #3919, Siena — — Seraphina higher
- 1960s: Seraphina —, Siena #6539 — Siena higher
- 1970s: Seraphina —, Siena #8423 — Siena higher
- 1980s: Seraphina #8611, Siena #7257 — Siena higher
- 1990s: Seraphina #9780, Siena #2536 — Siena higher
- 2000s: Seraphina #4713, Siena #992 — Siena higher
- 2010s: Seraphina #1320, Siena #638 — Siena higher
- 2020s: Seraphina #955, Siena #646 — Siena higher
Siena stood higher in 7 of 8 decades; Siena has held the lead since the 1960s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Seraphina | Siena |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | #3919 | — |
| 1960s | — | #6539 |
| 1970s | — | #8423 |
| 1980s | #8611 | #7257 |
| 1990s | #9780 | #2536 |
| 2000s | #4713 | #992 |
| 2010s | #1320 | #638 |
| 2020s | #955 | #646 |
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
Seraphina
burning one, fiery one — from the seraphim, the highest order of angels
The Hebrew root śārap means to burn; seraphim are the burning ones described in Isaiah's vision of the throne. Seraphina is the Latin feminine formed from that word.
śārap (Hebrew: to burn) → seraphim → Seraphinus / Seraphina (Latin) → Serafina → Seraphina
How it traveled
The word arrived in Latin through the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, untranslated, as seraphim — the angels Isaiah saw above the throne, each with six wings. Medieval Christian Europe turned it into a personal name, Seraphinus for men and Seraphina for women, and it settled most firmly in Italy, where Serafina became ordinary.
Siena
from Siena, the city in Tuscany
What the city's own name means is a separate and unsettled question: it has been linked to the Etruscan family name Saina and to the Roman colony called Saena Julia, and neither reading has won. The English word sienna for the reddish-brown pigment comes from terra di Siena, earth of Siena.
Saena Julia → Siena → Sienna
How it traveled
Siena is the Italian spelling of the Tuscan city, a Roman settlement that grew into one of medieval Europe's great banking and painting centers and still runs its Palio horse race around the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo. Its clay-rich earth was dug, ground and sold to painters across Europe, which is how the city's name entered English as a color rather than as a name for a person.
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
Seraphina
seh-ruh-FEE-nuh
Four syllables, stress on the third. A minority of English-speakers say seh-ruh-FY-nuh; the Italian-style FEE is the usual American reading, and worth saying first when you introduce her.
- Sera — The most common English short form; also used on its own as a given name.
- Fina — The traditional Italian clipping, taken from the end rather than the front.
- Seri — Informal, mostly within families; sometimes spelled Serri or Sery.
- Phina — Informal and less common; shares its sound with the tail of Josephine.
- Also Sephy.
Siena
see-EN-uh
In Italian the first syllable glides into one sound, closer to SYEH-nah. In American English the three-syllable see-EN-uh is standard; some readers try SEE-nuh on first sight, which usually needs one gentle correction.
- Sia — The most natural short form; also used on its own as a given name and as a stage name, so it reads as a full name to many people.
- Sisi — Affectionate, family-and-close-friends register rather than anything you would write on a form.
- Si — Very informal and clipped; shared with Simon and Sian, so it rarely stands alone.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Seraphina if you want…
- a name most people already know#599 in 2025, 489 babies that year
- a name on the way upup 673 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itSeraphina runs 4 syllables, Siena 2
- plenty of nickname options5 recorded short forms — Sera, Fina and Seri
Choose Siena if you want…
- a name fewer children share#610 in 2025 — siena will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a name holding steadySiena is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesSiena is 2 syllables to Seraphina's 4
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
Seraphina
Strengths
- Several established short forms, front and back — Sera, Fina, Seri — so the full name never has to be the everyday one.
- Recognizable across Italian, Spanish, Polish, French and Russian, with a local spelling waiting in each.
- A documented record going back to medieval Latin, so it is a revival rather than a coinage.
To consider
- Serafina is the older and more widespread spelling, so expect to correct the f-for-ph fairly often, in both directions.
- Four syllables is a lot to carry on forms and roll calls. It works best if you are genuinely happy with one of the short forms as her daily name.
- The angel meaning is right on the surface — people will hear seraph. That is either the appeal or the thing that makes it a little much, depending on your family.
Siena
Strengths
- Already familiar in English as a color word, so most people can spell some version of it after hearing it once.
- Pronounced almost identically in Italian, Spanish and English — it crosses borders without being reshaped.
- Ties to a real, well-documented place with a thousand years of history behind it, rather than to a coined spelling.
To consider
- Sienna, with two n's, is the more common English spelling. Expect a lifetime of small corrections, and choose knowing that written forms will often come back doubled.
- The Toyota Sienna has been on American roads for decades. It is a mild, passing association rather than a real problem, but it exists.
- The name's use is genuinely recent, so there are few adult or elderly bearers to point to. A child named Siena will likely be the one who defines it for the people around her.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Seraphina
58%chance Seraphina feels dated by 2040
Seraphina 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.
Siena
40%chance Siena feels dated by 2040
Siena sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
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 Seraphina and Siena 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 Seraphina and Siena?
Put both to the vote.
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More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
- Nine-letter names, the long end of the chart
- Angel and heaven names
- Gothic names with candlelit edges
- Names ranked #601–1000: known, but barely shared
- all guides
Where Seraphina and Siena each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Seraphina or Siena — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Seraphina or Siena?
- Seraphina, in 2025: Seraphina ranked #599 with 489 babies; Siena ranked #610 with 479 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Seraphina or Siena?
- Seraphina. Over the last five years Seraphina moved up 673 places; Siena moved up 28 places.
- Which is the older name, Seraphina or Siena?
- Seraphina entered the US charts in 1916; Siena entered the US charts in 1965. On the American record, Seraphina is the older name.
- How many people are named Seraphina and Siena?
- About 4,100 people named Seraphina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 11,000 people named Siena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Seraphinas or Sienas in the classroom?
- Seraphina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Siena 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
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