Olive or Olivia, Sophie or Sophia?

Updated Sun Apr 14 2024

Do you prefer your girl names plain or fancy? Streamlined or frilly? In other words, are you Team Olive or Team Olivia?

Popular tastes today run towards girl names that end in A. Eight of the Top 10 most popular names for girls end in A, starting with Olivia at number one. In fact, the top spot has been an A-ending name every year since 2008.

But look further down the list, and some names also have an alternative form without the A — like Olive, which is in the Top 200 and rising steadily.

Why do we have both? It reflects the different waves of languages that have made an impact on the pool of "English" names. In medieval England, most common female names, like Ann and Cecily, did not end in A in everyday use. But many were later reinvented with Latin endings, or forms from other languages, like Anna and Cecilia. Contact between cultures is constantly introducing new possibilities, like Amelie instead of Amelia, Maya instead of May.

The variety also comes from from parents’ quest for names that are cool and appealing, but not too popular. Changing the ending is one way to get that familiar-yet-different aesthetic. Top Ten favorite Evelyn morphs into below-the-Top-1000 Evelina. Solid Sylvia becomes fresh French Sylvie.

That A (or lack of it) makes all the difference. If you’re a Julie who gets called Julia, or a Susanna who is definitely not Susan, you’ll know that they feel like completely separate names. Our editor Sophie Kihm, whose legal name is Sophia, has first-hand experience:

“My parents always intended to call me Sophie, but my dad pushed for Sophia as my given name so I’d have something more formal to fall back on…but I was never called Sophia, so I never identified with it. Sophie is quirkier and more energetic than Sophia, but still feels sweet and sophisticated.”

Depending on the pair of names, the A version may feel more formal, frilly and feminine, or more in line with languages like Spanish and Italian — like Lucia as opposed to Lucy. For some names it sounds more timeless: think Diana versus Diane.

Without the A ending, a name may seem more informal and friendly, and more aligned to English and French traditions (like Melanie over Melania). But it can also sound more heavy and serious, like Helen versus the lighter-sounding Helena.

Whether you’re Team Olive or Team Olivia, knowing which way your style swings can help in your search for a name.

Here are our favorite pairs of girl names with and without an A ending, ranging from the top of the charts to virtually unknown.

Popular Pairings

In this list, both names in the pair are in the US Top 500 most popular baby names, so if you’re looking for something well-loved and stylish, you can’t go wrong either way.

Name Ending In A Is More Popular

In these pairings, the name with an A at the end is more popular than the one without.

Sometimes the difference is small, but other times there's a significant difference, like between Cecilia in the Top 200, and Cecily which has never been in the Top 1000.

Name Not Ending In A Is More Popular

In these pairs, the streamlined version is more popular than the A ending.

In some cases only just, like Helen (number 421) which ranks above Helena (number 473). For other names there's a huge difference, such as Maeve at number 104, versus Maeva below the Top 1000 girl names... unless you're in Scotland, where both are in the Top 100.

Unique Alternative Endings

Here, the first name in each pair is fairly well-used. The second name, with a tweaked ending, was given to under 50 girls in 2022 — and in some cases, is not on the charts at all, so a great choice if you're looking for unique girl names.

About the Author

Clare Green

Clare Green has been writing for Nameberry since 2015, covering everything from names peaking right now to feminist baby names, and keeping up-to-date with international baby name rankings. Her work has featured in publications such as The Independent and HuffPost. Clare has a background in linguistics and librarianship, and recently completed an MA dissertation researching names in multilingual families. She lives in England with her husband and son. You can reach her at clare@nameberry.com

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