Head to head · Girls' names
Ada vs Arabella
#219 vs #213 in 2025
Arabella is a whisker ahead (#213 vs #219 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Arabella is holding its place on the charts, Ada is stepping back from its peak.
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, Ada leads 3 measures of 6; Arabella 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
- 1880s: Ada #44, Arabella #841 — Ada higher
- 1890s: Ada #58, Arabella #1188 — Ada higher
- 1900s: Ada #79, Arabella #1412 — Ada higher
- 1910s: Ada #110, Arabella #1690 — Ada higher
- 1920s: Ada #158, Arabella #2242 — Ada higher
- 1930s: Ada #207, Arabella #2901 — Ada higher
- 1940s: Ada #297, Arabella #3988 — Ada higher
- 1950s: Ada #429, Arabella #4371 — Ada higher
- 1960s: Ada #577, Arabella #5590 — Ada higher
- 1970s: Ada #768, Arabella #7090 — Ada higher
- 1980s: Ada #965, Arabella #8333 — Ada higher
- 1990s: Ada #1143, Arabella #4510 — Ada higher
- 2000s: Ada #831, Arabella #1062 — Ada higher
- 2010s: Ada #380, Arabella #225 — Arabella higher
- 2020s: Ada #189, Arabella #212 — Ada higher
Ada stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Ada took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Ada | Arabella |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #44 | #841 |
| 1890s | #58 | #1188 |
| 1900s | #79 | #1412 |
| 1910s | #110 | #1690 |
| 1920s | #158 | #2242 |
| 1930s | #207 | #2901 |
| 1940s | #297 | #3988 |
| 1950s | #429 | #4371 |
| 1960s | #577 | #5590 |
| 1970s | #768 | #7090 |
| 1980s | #965 | #8333 |
| 1990s | #1143 | #4510 |
| 2000s | #831 | #1062 |
| 2010s | #380 | #225 |
| 2020s | #189 | #212 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
Around the world
Ada
- England & Wales#40
- Scotland#51
Arabella
- England & Wales#30
- Scotland#42
National statistics offices, latest published year.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Ada
"noble" (Germanic) or "adornment" (Hebrew)
Two separate roads end at the same three letters. The English Ada is usually traced to the Germanic element adal, "noble" — the same element behind Adelaide and Adeline, of which Ada began as a short form. Independently, Adah is a Hebrew name meaning "adornment" or "ornament", borne by two women in Genesis, and that spelling has fed the name too. Neither reading cancels the other; families have used both.
Adalheidis → Adelheid → Adelaide → Ada
How it traveled
Ada began life as a nickname doing a big job: a short handle for the weighty Germanic compounds starting with adal, "noble" — Adalheidis, which became Adelheid in German and Adelaide in English and French. By the early nineteenth century it had cut loose and was being given on its own, helped along by its resemblance to the biblical Adah.
Arabella
Either "lovable" or "yielding to prayer" — the two readings compete
One line derives Arabella from Latin amabilis, "lovable", through the medieval names Amabel and Annabel; the other from Latin orabilis, roughly "able to be entreated, yielding to prayer". Both are serious proposals and neither has won. Despite the look of the first four letters, there is no documented connection to the word Arab.
Amabilis → Amabel → Arabel → Arabella
How it traveled
The name surfaces in medieval Scotland, where records show Arabella beside the closely related Arabel and Amabel among aristocratic families — the same circles that used Annabel. From there it spread into England, and by the seventeenth century it was well established in noble English use; Lady Arbella Stuart, a cousin of James VI and I, carried a variant of it.
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
Ada
AY-duh
Standard in English. In German, Italian, Polish and Turkish the first vowel is open — AH-dah — so relatives abroad may say it differently, and both are correct in their own place.
- Addie — The usual informal shortening in American English; also stands alone as a given name and serves Adelaide, Addison and Adeline.
- Ada — Already a short form itself — in Poland and Germany it is often the everyday name for a formal Adelajda or Adelheid.
- Adie — A less common spelling of the same short form, used in family settings.
Arabella
a-ruh-BEL-uh
Stress on the third syllable, which keeps it distinct from Annabella. The first vowel is the short a of cat, and it is rarely mispronounced once seen.
- Bella — The most used short form, and a registered given name in its own right.
- Belle — Informal; also stands alone as a given name and as a French word for beautiful.
- Ara — Informal short form taken from the front of the name rather than the end.
- Bee — Family-level nickname, usually spoken more than written.
- Also Ellie, Arbell.
Who has carried each name
Ada
Ada Lovelace (b. 1815) — Wrote the first computer program — in 1843
Ada Yonath (b. 1939) — Nobel Prize-winning chemist
Arabella
No documented entry for Arabella yet.
Source: Wikidata — the one source on this page that is not an official agency.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Ada if you want…
- a name past its most crowded yearsAda is stepping back from its peak
- a name with fewer syllablesAda is 2 syllables to Arabella's 4
- a long American recordAda was already in use when US records began in 1880
Choose Arabella if you want…
- a name with more sound in itArabella runs 4 syllables, Ada 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Bella, Belle and Ara
- a newer arrivalArabella entered the US charts in 1881
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
Ada
Strengths
- Three letters, no silent parts, and a spelling almost nobody needs to hear twice.
- Familiar in the US and still charting in England and Wales and in Scotland, so it crosses borders without adjustment.
- An unbroken record in English from the nineteenth century onward, without ever becoming a name every classroom has.
To consider
- In American writing, the letters ADA belong to the Americans with Disabilities Act and the American Dental Association. It rarely causes real confusion in speech, but it does mean the name shares its shape with some very official acronyms.
- Said quickly, Ada can be heard as Ava, Ida or Ana — and Ava in particular is common enough right now that mishearings will happen. Most people get it on the second try.
- The name sits with older generations as much as with young children: an Ada today may find that the other Adas she meets are several decades her senior. That gap is closing, but slowly.
Arabella
Strengths
- Ready-made short forms at both ends of the name — Bella, Belle, Ara — so a child has options without a nickname having to be invented.
- Documented in Britain since the Middle Ages, an unusually long unbroken written record for a name still given today.
- Spelled the way it sounds for most English speakers, and also charting in England and Wales and in Scotland, its home ground.
To consider
- Bella is a crowded nickname. With Isabella, Gabriella and Bella itself all in wide use, she may share a shortened name with other children even while her full name stays uncommon.
- Arabella, Arabelle, Annabella and Annabel are near neighbors, and expect a fair number of people to hear or write the wrong one on first meeting.
- Four syllables want a surname that can hold them; two- and three-syllable last names sometimes ask to be said slowly.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
How each is likely to age
Ada
25%chance Ada feels dated by 2040
Ada peaked long ago yet still holds steady — names that survive their own wave usually settle into quiet, durable classics.
Arabella
40%chance Arabella feels dated by 2040
Arabella 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 Ada and Arabella 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
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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
- Short and sweet: names of four letters or fewer
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Palindrome names: the same in the mirror
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- all guides
Where Ada and Arabella each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Ada or Arabella — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Ada or Arabella?
- Arabella, in 2025: Arabella ranked #213 with 1,423 babies; Ada ranked #219 with 1,401 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Ada or Arabella?
- Neither is rising. Over the last five years Ada moved down 34 places; Arabella moved down 11 places.
- Which is the older name, Ada or Arabella?
- Ada was already in use when US records began in 1880; Arabella entered the US charts in 1881. On the American record, Ada is the older name.
- How many people are named Ada and Arabella?
- About 39,500 people named Ada are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 27,000 people named Arabella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adas or Arabellas in the classroom?
- Ada will almost certainly be the only one in school. Arabella will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025; international figures from national statistics agencies. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
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