Head to head · Girls' names
Adelina vs Aurelia
#304 vs #290 in 2025 · both climbing the charts fast
Aurelia is a whisker ahead (#290 vs #304 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, Aurelia leads 5 measures of 6; Adelina 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
- 1880s: Adelina #875, Aurelia #436 — Aurelia higher
- 1890s: Adelina #782, Aurelia #426 — Aurelia higher
- 1900s: Adelina #845, Aurelia #450 — Aurelia higher
- 1910s: Adelina #806, Aurelia #502 — Aurelia higher
- 1920s: Adelina #849, Aurelia #551 — Aurelia higher
- 1930s: Adelina #966, Aurelia #658 — Aurelia higher
- 1940s: Adelina #1082, Aurelia #861 — Aurelia higher
- 1950s: Adelina #1403, Aurelia #1151 — Aurelia higher
- 1960s: Adelina #1727, Aurelia #1579 — Aurelia higher
- 1970s: Adelina #1920, Aurelia #1668 — Aurelia higher
- 1980s: Adelina #2132, Aurelia #1950 — Aurelia higher
- 1990s: Adelina #2071, Aurelia #2204 — Adelina higher
- 2000s: Adelina #1450, Aurelia #1951 — Adelina higher
- 2010s: Adelina #626, Aurelia #827 — Adelina higher
- 2020s: Adelina #403, Aurelia #422 — Adelina higher
Aurelia stood higher in 11 of 15 decades; Adelina has held the lead since the 1990s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adelina | Aurelia |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | #875 | #436 |
| 1890s | #782 | #426 |
| 1900s | #845 | #450 |
| 1910s | #806 | #502 |
| 1920s | #849 | #551 |
| 1930s | #966 | #658 |
| 1940s | #1082 | #861 |
| 1950s | #1403 | #1151 |
| 1960s | #1727 | #1579 |
| 1970s | #1920 | #1668 |
| 1980s | #2132 | #1950 |
| 1990s | #2071 | #2204 |
| 2000s | #1450 | #1951 |
| 2010s | #626 | #827 |
| 2020s | #403 | #422 |
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
Adelina
noble
From the Old High German element adal, "noble" — the same root behind Adela, Adele and Adelaide. The -ina ending is a Latin diminutive added in Italy and Spain.
adal (Old High German, "noble") → Adela → Adelina
How it traveled
The root is Germanic: adal, "noble", a favorite building block in the names of Frankish and German nobility in the early Middle Ages, which gave the short name Adela. As those names moved south into Italy and the Iberian peninsula, the affectionate Latin ending -ina was attached, and Adelina became a name in its own right rather than a pet form.
Aurelia
golden
From Latin aureus, 'golden', by way of the Roman family name Aurelius.
aureus → Aurelius → Aurelia → Aurélie
How it traveled
The gens Aurelia was a Roman family of the Republic, and its name is generally traced to Latin aureus, 'golden'. Aurelia was the standard feminine form: Aurelia Cotta, mother of Julius Caesar, is the best-documented bearer, and the same root gave the emperor Marcus Aurelius his name.
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
Adelina
ah-deh-LEE-nah
English speakers often say ad-uh-LEE-nuh, with a flatter first vowel; both are accepted. Expect a few people to reach for the Adeline pattern and say -LYNE — one correction usually settles it.
- Addie — The usual English short form; also given on its own, and shared with Adelaide, Adeline and Addison.
- Lina — Informal, and a standalone given name across Italy, Spain and Germany.
- Ada — Informal clip of the first half; long established as an independent name in English.
- Adelita — Spanish affectionate diminutive; also known as the title figure of the Mexican Revolution corrido "La Adelita".
- Also Deli.
Aurelia
aw-REE-lee-uh
That is the usual English reading. In Italian, Spanish and Polish the middle syllable is closer to RAY — ow-RAY-lee-ah — so relatives abroad may say it differently, and both are correct for their language.
- Lia — Informal short form taken from the ending; also a full given name in its own right in Italian and German.
- Auri — Informal, drawn from the first two syllables; usually said AW-ree or OR-ee.
- Ellie — Informal, from the middle of the name; widely used as an independent given name too, so it blends in easily at school.
- Rae — Informal and less common, pulled from the stressed syllable; also stands alone as a given name.
- Also Relia.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adelina if you want…
- a name fewer children share#304 in 2025 — adelina will almost certainly be the only one in school
- a newer arrivalAdelina entered the US charts in 1884
Choose Aurelia if you want…
- a name most people already know#290 in 2025, 1,056 babies that year
- a long American recordAurelia was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
Adelina
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds in English, Spanish and Italian alike, so it survives travel and phone calls without translation.
- Several long-established short forms already in use — Addie, Lina, Ada, Adelita — so there is room to be formal or casual.
- Documented in continuous use for centuries, with a clear line back to the Germanic element adal.
To consider
- Adeline, Adelina, Adalina and Adelyn all circulate together, so she will likely spell it aloud fairly often, and forms that look nearly identical get mixed up.
- Four syllables plus a long surname can get unwieldy; it helps to say the full name out loud a few times before deciding.
- The short form Addie is shared with Adelaide, Adeline and Addison, so it may not identify her uniquely in a group.
Aurelia
Strengths
- The meaning is settled and easy to state: golden, from Latin aureus.
- Recognizable in Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Romanian with little or no change of spelling.
- A documented record stretching from the Roman Republic to the present, with no gap long enough to make it feel resurrected.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate: aw-REE-lee-uh in English, ow-RAY-lee-ah in the Romance languages and Polish. Neither is wrong, but expect to choose one and repeat it.
- It sits close to Aurora, Aurelie, Amelia and Ariella in the ear, so mishearings and gentle corrections are likely.
- The name is climbing steadily rather than sitting still. A child named Aurelia now will probably be alone in her class, but the name may feel more familiar by the time she leaves school than it does today.
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 Adelina and Aurelia 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 Adelina and Aurelia?
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 that carry both names
Every list here names both Adelina and Aurelia — the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adelina or Aurelia — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adelina or Aurelia?
- Aurelia, in 2025: Aurelia ranked #290 with 1,056 babies; Adelina ranked #304 with 1,007 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adelina or Aurelia?
- Aurelia. Over the last five years Adelina moved up 234 places; Aurelia moved up 241 places.
- Which is the older name, Adelina or Aurelia?
- Adelina entered the US charts in 1884; Aurelia was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Aurelia is the older name.
- How many people are named Adelina and Aurelia?
- About 14,000 people named Adelina are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 13,000 people named Aurelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adelinas or Aurelias in the classroom?
- Adelina will almost certainly be the only one in school. Aurelia 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
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