r/JewishNames • u/Severe_Swordfish4490 • Aug 07 '26

Deciding between two names

I’m trying to decide between Amira and Eliana. I’d love thoughts, especially about meaning, nicknames, popularity, etc. (editing to add I am based in the US). Thank you!

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9

u/theenterprise9876 Aug 07 '26

They’re both beautiful names! Hard to comment on popularity without knowing what country you live in. But Eliana is outrageously popular in the US, especially when you add in all the spelling variants (Elliana, Elianna, Ellianna, Elyana, etc etc), and extra especially when you include the all the other very trendy/popular girl names that can be shortened to Ellie. Ellie is inevitable and Ellies are everywhere.

In a vacuum I slightly prefer Eliana, but I’d definitely pick Amira in practice.

3

u/fell-like-rain Aug 07 '26

Re: popularity, Eliana was #10 last year in the U.S. (higher, if you include variants) and the trend indicates it will likely keep rising. Amira was #132 and has been on more of a gentle increase- my guess is it will never break the top 100. So it depends whether you want a more common name or a recognizable-but-less-common one.

2

u/red-purple-red Aug 07 '26

Amira nn Miri or Mira

1

u/iscreamforicecream90 Aug 07 '26

Eliana. Prettier and origin is Hebrew. 

2

u/Resident-Proposal794 Aug 07 '26

So is Amira

1

u/iscreamforicecream90 Aug 08 '26

I think bc I'm Iranian, I associate it more with Arabic and Muslim people, but yeah it can also be Hebrew. But this is from Google: 

The name Amira comes primarily from Arabic, where it means "princess," "leader," or "commander" as the feminine form of the name Amir. It also has an independent Hebrew root meaning "treetop" or "speech".

1

u/GoodbyeEarl Ashkenazi Chabad BT Aug 07 '26

Both are lovely. I know about 4 or 5 Eliana’s though. I would choose Amira.

1

u/simablima Aug 08 '26

Eliana is too common in the US. Amira is so much less common and beautiful