Cornelia
Feminine
Cornelia is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 22,076 girls against 26 boys since 1880.
Cornelia is the feminine of one of the great Roman family names, and the most famous woman to carry it is remembered for a single sentence about her children.
How old is the name Cornelia?
Cornelia was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Cornelia alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 7,400 people named Cornelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Cornelia most popular?
Cornelia peaked in 1880, reaching #147 nationally. Today it ranks #3130, 2,983 places below that high. See the whole 1880 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Cornelius to Cornelia
The story of Cornelia
The Cornelii were one of the oldest patrician clans of Rome. Cornelia, daughter of Scipio Africanus and mother of the Gracchi brothers, became the Roman ideal of the matron: asked by a visitor to show her jewels, she is said to have presented her two sons and called them her ornaments. The story was taught for two thousand years, which carried the name through the Renaissance into Dutch, German and English use, where it has never quite left.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name is the feminine of Cornelius, a Roman clan name whose own meaning was already lost in antiquity. It is sometimes linked to cornu, 'horn', but that connection is a later guess rather than a documented derivation. What is certain is the family, not the sense.
How the name formed
- Cornelius
- Cornelia
Related forms: Cornelia · Cornelia · Cornelia · Cornelia
Pronouncing Cornelia
kor-NEEL-yuh
Three or four syllables depending on the speaker; the stress sits on the second. Dutch speakers give the final -ia two clear syllables.
Nicknames for Cornelia
Moderate
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
- 1921477 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #147reached in 1880
- Change vs 2022
- +37.8%51 in 2025, from 37
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.
Cornelia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Cornelia in Dutch — same name
- Cornelia in German — same name
- Cornelia in Italian — same name
- Cornelia in Romanian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: New York, California, Texas.
Cornelias among us
people named Cornelia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 31,515 born in 2025 was named Cornelia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Cornelia 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 Cornelia is headed
Cornelia 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.
Cornelia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Cornelia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A deep set of short forms — Nelly, Cora, Corrie — each with its own character.
- Identical in Dutch, German, Italian and Romanian, so it crosses several European families untouched.
- One of the oldest continuously documented women's names in the Western record.
- Four syllables is a lot for a small child, and most Cornelias have used a short form from the start.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown, so a family that wants one will have to be content with the history instead.
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What they receive
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Cornelia
Feminine · #3130 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Cornelias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 7,400 people named Cornelia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Cornelia in 2025?
- Cornelia ranks #3130 among US girl names in 2025, with 51 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Cornelia?
- About 1 in every 31,515 US girls born in 2025 was named Cornelia — 51 in all.
- Will my child share the name Cornelia with classmates?
- Cornelia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Cornelia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Janylah#3130 · Robbie#3130 · Lillyanna#3130 · Bayla#3130 · Karmyn#3130 · Advika#3130 · Samari#3130 · Precious#3130
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Cornelia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Cornelia and another name?
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Which one would you pick?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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