Arianna
Meaning
Italian variant of Ariadne, traditionally "utterly pure"
Goes by Ari
Famously borne by Arianna Huffington, co-founder of The Huffington Post.
The story
Arianna is the Italian dress of Ariadne, the Cretan princess of Greek myth who handed Theseus the thread that led him out of the labyrinth, and whose own story ends among the gods. The old name is traditionally read as utterly pure, and Italian opera loved it: Monteverdi built an entire opera around Arianna's lament in the early 1600s. In American records the name is far younger, barely present before the 1960s, warming slowly through the 1980s and 1990s, then doubling into real popularity in the 2000s and holding that high plateau through the 2010s. The rise of a certain single-n pop star kept the sound everywhere in the 2010s, though Arianna was already well established by then. It has eased only a little in the 2020s: a myth-born name in full modern bloom.
Popularity, 1890–2024
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Arianna peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
See popularity in Brazil
Popularity in Brazil
394 people · the #15,755 first name in Brazil · about 1 in 500,000 · median age 25
Among people named Arianna living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1980s than in any other decade.
The census also counted 43 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart.
Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
When you meet Arianna
Most people given the name Arianna 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.
The Arianna deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Arianna 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 Arianna fits with your family’s names and surname.
Keep exploring
Names like Arianna · Nicknames for Arianna · Middle names for Arianna · Names of founders and builders
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