Adalei
A feminine name meaning "noble" or "noble natured", a variant of Adele.
Name Census estimates that about 214 living Americans carry the first name Adalei. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adalei today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adalei births was 2012 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adalei. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
214
~ 1 in 1,601,656 Americans
Peak year
2012
19 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,528
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Adalei: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adalei from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 133 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adalei remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adalei by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Adalei during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adalei
The given name Adalei has its origins in the Germanic languages, where it was derived from the Old Germanic root "adal," meaning "noble" or "aristocratic." The name itself is a combination of this root and the Germanic element "leid," meaning "people" or "folk." Together, Adalei can be interpreted as "noble people" or "aristocratic folk."
In the early medieval period, the name Adalei was particularly prevalent among the ruling classes and nobility of various Germanic tribes, such as the Franks, Saxons, and Goths. It was a popular choice for parents who wished to bestow a sense of prestige and honor upon their children.
While the name does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is believed to have been in use as early as the 5th or 6th century AD, during the height of the Germanic migrations and the establishment of various kingdoms across Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Adalei can be found in the "Codex Diplomaticus Saxoniae Regiae," a collection of medieval Saxon charters and records from the 9th century. Here, an individual named Adalei is mentioned as a noble landowner and vassal of the Saxon king.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Adalei was borne by several notable figures, including Adalei von Auerbach (c. 1150-1220), a German noblewoman and abbess of the Benedictine convent in Auerbach, Bavaria. Another prominent bearer was Adalei von Rothenburg (1210-1275), a German knight and crusader who participated in the Sixth Crusade led by Emperor Frederick II.
In the later medieval period, the name Adalei gained popularity among the nobility of various European regions, such as the Holy Roman Empire and the Kingdom of England. One noteworthy individual was Adalei von Habsburg (1285-1322), a member of the prestigious Habsburg dynasty and the wife of King Rudolf I of Bohemia.
During the Renaissance, the name Adalei remained in use among the aristocratic classes, albeit to a lesser extent. One notable figure from this period was Adalei von Braunschweig-Lüneburg (1555-1610), a German noblewoman and regent of the Principality of Calenberg-Göttingen.
As the centuries passed, the name Adalei gradually fell out of widespread use, but it continued to be revived sporadically by families with a strong connection to their Germanic heritage or a desire to honor their noble ancestry.
People
Adalei + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adalei as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Adalei: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adalei?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 214 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adalei going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,601,656 US residents.
Is Adalei a common name?
We classify Adalei as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adalei most popular?
The single biggest year for Adalei was 2012, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adalei is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Adalei in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adalei a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adalei in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Adalei still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adalei in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Adalei can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Adalei as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.