Arabella
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "yielding to prayer".
Name Census estimates that about 25,633 living Americans carry the first name Arabella. It sits at #206 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arabella today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arabella births was 2014 (1,912 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arabella. 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.
Key insights
- • Arabella is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
26K
~ 1 in 13,372 Americans
Peak year
2014
1,912 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#206
Tracked since 1881
Popularity
Arabella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arabella from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 15,114 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Arabella remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arabella 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 Arabella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arabellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 50 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Arabella, while Wyoming, Vermont, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 492 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arabella
The name Arabella has its origins in Latin and ancient Roman culture. It is derived from the Latin word "orabilis" which means "admirable" or "appealing". The spelling "Arabella" first appeared in the Late Latin period around the 5th century AD.
In early medieval times, the name spread through continental Europe amid the influence of Latin on emerging European languages and cultures. Variations in spelling and pronunciation emerged, such as Arabelle in French and Arabella in Italian and Spanish. It continued to be used as a feminine given name throughout the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Arabella Stuart, born in 1575. She was an English noblewoman and a claimant to the English and Scottish thrones after King James VI of Scotland became King James I of England in 1603. Her claim was passed over in favor of her cousin, which sparked the "Arabella Plot" by her supporters in an attempt to take the throne.
In literature, the name appears in William Shakespeare's play The Tempest from around 1610-1611. A ship named "Arabella" is referenced, which may have been inspired by the political events surrounding Arabella Stuart at the time.
Arabella Churchill (1648-1730) was an English playwright and mistress of King James II of England. She was influential in restoring the Stuart monarchy during the Glorious Revolution of 1688.
Arabella Huntington (1850-1924) was an American philanthropist and artist who founded several museums and arts institutions in the United States, including the Huntington Library, Art Museum, and Botanical Gardens in San Marino, California.
Arabella Weir (born 1957) is a British actress and author, best known for her roles in comedy series such as The Fast Show, Smack the Pony, and as Professor Sprout in the Harry Potter films.
Arabella Steinbacher (born 1981) is a German violinist who has performed with leading orchestras worldwide and has won many prestigious awards for her classical violin performances.
People
Arabella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arabella 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
Arabella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arabella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 25,633 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arabella 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 13,372 US residents.
Is Arabella a common name?
We classify Arabella as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 26,512 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arabella most popular?
The single biggest year for Arabella was 2014, when 1,912 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arabella is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Arabella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arabella 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.
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.