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Arabella

girl name
Origin
Scottish
Syllables
4
Peak era
2010s
Today
▬ Steady

Torn between Arabella and another name? Compare them side by side →

Meaning

meaning uncertain, possibly "yielding to prayer"

Goes by Bella, Belle. See all nicknames

The story

Arabella's meaning is uncertain, but its history supplies more than enough drama. Lady Arbella Stuart, whose name was also written Arabella, was a cousin of King James I and once considered a possible successor to Elizabeth I. When she secretly married William Seymour without royal permission, the couple were confined. In 1611 Arbella escaped dressed as a man and reached a ship bound for France, only to be captured before she could join her husband. She spent her remaining years in the Tower of London. The episode gives the elaborate name an unexpected streak of nerve: silk, danger, disguise, and a failed dash for freedom. Bella and Belle sit naturally inside it, offering lighter everyday choices, but the full name deserves room for all four syllables. Because the origin remains disputed, romantic translations such as answered prayer should be treated as possibilities, not facts. Arabella needs no invented certainty. Its real gift is the contrast between a graceful sound and one woman's audacious attempt to choose her own life.

More names with stories →

Arabella in song

Arabella
Arctic Monkeys (2013)
A heavy, strutting track from AM about a girl with 1960s cinema glamour, and one of the album's most loved songs.

How popular is Arabella around the world?

In the United States, 8,501 babies were named Arabella between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 1,368 girls named Arabella were born in 2025, the 22nd most common name among girls that year.

Arabella is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Scotland, Ireland, New Zealand, South Australia, Canada, Argentina, Mexico City, Chile, Spain and Brazil.

United States

1 in 2,600

In the United States, 8,501 babies were named Arabella between 2020 and 2025.

1890speak 2010s

Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Arabella peaked in the 2010s.

Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration

See the full list for the United States →

England and Wales

1 in 430

In England and Wales, 1,368 girls named Arabella were born in 2025, the 22nd most common name among girls that year.

1996peak 2025

share of that year’s name registrations

Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales

See the full list for England and Wales →

Scotland

1 in 630

In Scotland, 73 girls named Arabella were registered in 2024, the 57th most common name among girls that year.

2000peak 2024

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names

See the full list for Scotland →

Ireland

1 in 1,100

In Ireland, 51 girls named Arabella were born in 2025, the 96th most common name among girls that year.

2000peak 2025

share of that year’s name registrations

Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names

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New Zealand

1 in 1,200

In New Zealand, 49 girls named Arabella were registered in 2025.

2000peak 2025

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from New Zealand birth registrations, grouped by registration year; any name under 10 in a year is excluded at source. Shares divide by Stats NZ’s count of births registered to mothers living in New Zealand, under 1% below the registry’s own count. Source: Department of Internal Affairs (New Zealand), baby name popularity over time

See the full list for New Zealand →

South Australia

1 in 1,400 · 2017

In South Australia, 13 girls were registered as Arabella in 2017.

1970peak 2016

share of that year’s name registrations

Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names

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Canada

1 in 4,600

In Canada, 79 girls named Arabella were born in 2024, the 378th most common name among girls that year.

1991peak 2017

share of that year’s name registrations

First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)

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Argentina

1 in 74,000

In Argentina, 9 newborns were given the name Arabella in 2024.

2012peak 2024

share of that year’s name registrations

Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024

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Mexico City City

1 in 120,000

In Mexico City, there was 1 registration of Arabella in 2022.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.

Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023

See the full list for Mexico City →

Chile

1 in 180,000

In Chile, 1 girl was registered as Arabella in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.

First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021

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Spain

1 in 340,000

In Spain, 132 residents are named Arabella, ranked 6,210th among women, with a mean age of 32.8 years.

Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025

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Brazil

1 in 1M

At the 2022 census, 119 people in Brazil were named Arabella, ranked 36,473rd, with a median age of 15.
Among people named Arabella living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2010s than in any other decade.

peak 2010s2010s

people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth

The census also counted 31 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022

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Austria

last on record 2022

Arabella is not on the 2025 record for Austria, which publishes every first name down to a single birth, so the name was not given there that year.

1984peak 19962025

share of that year’s births on record

Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)

See the full list for Austria →

Montevideo City

last on record 1975

Arabella is not on the 2011 record for Montevideo, whose registry withholds nothing, so the spelling was not given there that year.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.

Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial

See the full list for Montevideo →

Poland

last on record 2024

Arabella is not on the 2025 record for Poland, where names given fewer than 2 times in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.

First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)

See the full list for Poland →

Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.

Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.

All records: the most popular baby names around the world →

When you meet Arabella

Most people given the name Arabella in the United States are children or teenagers today. The name belongs to this generation.

Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.

Names that fit alongside Arabella

Charlotte Eleanor Caroline Nora Victoria Elizabeth

Keep exploring

Names like Arabella · Names that go with Arabella · Nicknames for Arabella

Name trails: explore connections from Arabella →

The Arabella deep dive

Written for you · $1.99 →

Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Arabella truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Arabella fits with your family’s names and surname.

Both reports, explained →

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