Girl · Germanic, through French
Adelaide
Say it: AD-uh-layd
Meaning
From Germanic Adalheidis: adal 'noble' and heid 'kind, sort'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
Popularized in England by William IV's German-born queen in the 1830s.
Its wave through time
A revival, back after decades away
In the United States
- 29,340 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1893, about 1 in 1,500 girls
- 1,128 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Early Middle Ages400 to 800
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Adelaida, Adèle
| German | Adelheid |
|---|---|
| French | Adélaïde |
| Italian | Adelaide |
| Spanish | Adelaida |
| Polish | Adelajda |
| Dutch | Aleida |
Famous bearers
- Queen Adelaide, wife of William IV, for whom the Australian city is named
- Saint Adelaide (Adelaide of Italy), Holy Roman Empress
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
- Calendars of saints and name days
- 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.