Boy · Gothic (probable)
Attila
Say it: AWT-tee-law
Meaning
Name of the 5th-century Hun ruler, most often explained as Gothic atta 'father' with the diminutive -ila, 'little father'; a Turkic origin has also been proposed.
Likelythe main view, with some doubt.
Revived as a Hungarian given name in the 19th century and common through the 20th.
Its wave through time
Rare in the records
In the United States
- 599 babies given this name since 1958
- At its height in 2014, about 1 in 106,600 boys
- 12 babies in 2020
Through the ages
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Etele
Famous bearers
- Attila, ruler of the Huns
- Attila József, poet
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- Ancient Greek literature and history (Homer, Herodotus, Plutarch and others)
- Roman literature and history (Livy, Cicero, Tacitus and others)
- 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.