Girl · Scots, uncertain origin
Arabella
Say it: air-uh-BEL-uh
Meaning
A Scottish name of uncertain origin, perhaps a variant of Annabel or from Latin orabilis 'yielding to prayer'.
Uncertainseveral explanations, none settled.
An aristocratic name in Georgian England, recently revived.
Its wave through time
Popular now
In the United States
- 20,811 babies given this name since 1881
- At its height in 2017, about 1 in 914 girls
- 1,417 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The Renaissance1400 to 1600
- The Age of Revolutions1750 to 1837
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
Famous bearers
- Arabella Stuart, English noblewoman
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Royal and noble genealogies
- Parish baptism registers
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today 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.