Aurelia
Feminine · “golden”
Aurelia is the feminine form of one of Rome's great family names, worn by the mother of Julius Caesar and carried down the centuries through the Latin word for gold. It has stayed intact in Italian, Spanish, Polish and Romanian, and softened into Aurélie in French. Four syllables, all vowels open, with the stress landing in the middle.
How old is the name Aurelia?
Aurelia was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Aurelia alive today was born around 2004, making them about 21 years old. About 13,000 people named Aurelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aurelia most popular?
Aurelia peaked in 2025, reaching #290 nationally. Today it ranks #290, exactly where it peaked. See the whole 2025 chart.
Where it comes from
From aureus to Aurelia
The story of Aurelia
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. Early Christian martyr cults kept the name alive in Latin Europe after Rome, and it settled permanently into Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Polish and Romanian, while French reshaped it as Aurélie. English speakers have used it in an unbroken if quiet line since the era of Latin-loving Victorian revivals, and it has been present in American records from the earliest years such records exist.
Meaning
golden
From Latin aureus, 'golden', by way of the Roman family name Aurelius.
How the name formed
- aureus
- Aurelius
- Aurelia
- Aurélie
Related forms: Aurélie · Aurelia · Aurelia · Aurelia · Aurélia · Aurelia
Pronouncing 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.
Nicknames for Aurelia
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
- 20251,056 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #290reached in 2025
- Change vs 2022
- +64.0%1,056 in 2025, from 644
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.
Aurelia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Aurélie in French — related form
- Aurelia in Italian — same name
- Aurelia in Spanish — same name
- Aurelia in Polish — same name
- Aurélia in Portuguese — spelling variant
- Aurelia in Romanian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Aurelias among us
people named Aurelia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 1,522 born in 2025 was named Aurelia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Anahi test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aurelia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anahi climbed just as high around 2006, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anahi's path sketches the road Aurelia is walking now.
Aurelia is climbing fast right now. Steep climbs tend to come with steep descents — the quicker a name arrives, the more firmly it belongs to its moment.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aurelia is headed
Aurelia looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 30% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds.
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.
Aurelia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aurelia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- 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.
- Several established short forms — Lia, Auri, Ellie — that already work as names on their own.
- 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.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Aurelia to the vote.
Add it to a family vote or a couple’s swipe deck — the other person gets one card, a simple answer and room to say why. No app, no account for them.
Only the people you invite can see your list.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Aurelia
Feminine · #290 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Aurelias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 13,000 people named Aurelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Aurelia in 2025?
- Aurelia ranks #290 among US girl names in 2025, with 1,056 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aurelia?
- About 1 in every 1,522 US girls born in 2025 was named Aurelia — 1,056 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aurelia with classmates?
- Aurelia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aurelia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Sawyer#290 · Adelaide#289 · Poppy#292 · Milani#288 · Gia#287 · Aylani#293 · Meadow#286 · Maggie#294
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aurelia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aurelia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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