Ada

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Girl · Germanic (probably)

Ada

Say it: AY-duh

Try it with your surname

Meaning

Uncertain. Usually taken as a short form of Germanic names in adal 'noble', but it has also been linked with Hebrew Adah.

Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.

Popular in the 19th century and again in recent years.

Its wave through time

Fading since the 1880s

In the United States

0246818801900192019401960198020002020Peak 1880per 1,000 babies of that sex
  • 99,151 babies given this name since 1880
  • At its height in 1888, about 1 in 160 girls
  • 1,548 babies in 2020

Through the ages

  1. The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
  2. Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
  3. The Modern Age1880 to today

Used by

EnglishGermanItalian

The family of the name

GermanAda
ItalianAda
SpanishAda

Famous bearers

  • Ada Lovelace, English mathematician
  • Ada Negri, Italian poet

Names worth a look

Where this comes from

  • National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
  • Well-known works of literature
  • National birth statistics of European countries source
  • United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source

Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.

Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.