Adela
Feminine · Germanic roots · “noble”
Adela is a Frankish name shortened out of the old Germanic compounds that begin with adal, "noble" — the same root behind Adelaide and Adèle. It traveled with the Normans into medieval France and England, then settled deeply into Spanish, where the diminutive Adelita became the title of one of the best-known corridos of the Mexican Revolution. Three syllables, every one of them plain on the page: a-de-la.
How old is the name Adela?
Adela was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Adela alive today was born around 1969, making them about 56 years old. About 9,700 people named Adela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Adela most popular?
Adela peaked in 1882, reaching #446 nationally. Today it ranks #1150, 704 places below that high. See the whole 1882 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From adal (Germanic, "noble") to Adela
The story of Adela
The name starts in the Germanic naming system, where children were given two-part names assembled from a stock of honorable words; adal, "noble," was among the most used. Short forms like Adala and Adela grew up beside the long compounds and eventually stood on their own, carried by Frankish and Norman noblewomen from the early Middle Ages onward — Adela of Champagne was queen of France in the twelfth century. From French Adèle and German Adele, the Latinate spelling Adela spread into Spanish, Portuguese, Polish, Czech and Romanian, where it never left. In the United States its footing has been strongest in California, Texas and Florida, the same states where its Spanish life is most audible.
Meaning
noble
From the Germanic element adal, "noble" — Adela began as a short form of longer names built on that root, such as Adelheid (Adelaide) and Adalgund.
How the name formed
- adalGermanic, "noble"
- Adala
- Adela
- Adèle
Related forms: Adèle · Adele · Adéla · Adél · Adele · Adelheid
Pronouncing Adela
uh-DEL-uh
In Spanish it is ah-DEH-lah, with a clean short a at the end. Some English speakers stress the first syllable instead, AD-uh-luh. All three are current, so it is worth deciding which one you will offer when people ask.
Nicknames for Adela
High
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 2022222 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #446reached in 1882
- Change vs 2022
- −9.5%201 in 2025, from 222
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Adela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Adèle in French — same name
- Adele in German — same name
- Adéla in Czech — spelling variant
- Adél in Hungarian — same name
- Adele in Italian — same name
- Adelheid in German — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, Florida.
Adelas among us
people named Adela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 7,996 born in 2025 was named Adela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Adela
- #1150
- Adela on the 2025 chart
- #698
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Adela went to 201 girls in 2025, but Adella is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 267, which makes it the 698th most-given girls’ name of the year — 452 places above the chart.
- Adela201
- Adella66
About 1 girl in 6,020 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 7,996 for Adela itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Adela 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 scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Adela is headed
Adela should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Adela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Adela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Spelled the same way in Spanish, Italian, German, Polish and Romanian — it crosses borders without needing to be rewritten.
- Phonetic on the page: five letters, no silent parts, nothing a teacher has to guess at.
- Comes with short forms that are already in real use — Ada, Addie, Adelita — rather than ones you would have to invent.
- A documented record stretching from early medieval Frankish naming to living use today, without a gap.
- Adela and Adele are close enough that many people will hear or write the wrong one. Expect a lifetime of gentle corrections, especially in writing.
- The English and Spanish pronunciations differ, and a bilingual household may end up using both. Some families like that; others find it worth settling early.
- Adella, Adelia and Adelina all sit nearby and will occasionally be substituted.
- Familiar but uncommon in American classrooms — she will likely be the only one, which some children enjoy and others notice more than you would expect.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Adela
Feminine · Germanic roots · #1150 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Adelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 9,700 people named Adela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Adela?
- Adela is the most-used spelling in US records — 201 of the 267 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Adella.
- How popular is the name Adela in 2025?
- Adela ranks #1150 among US girl names in 2025, with 201 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Adela?
- About 1 in every 7,996 US girls born in 2025 was named Adela — 201 in all.
- Will my child share the name Adela with classmates?
- Adela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Adela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dariana#1150 · Kathleen#1150 · Kimora#1150 · Amyra#1150 · Sally#1150 · Jaycee#1150 · Amariah#1150 · Abril#1150
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Adela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Adela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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