Ophelia
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Meaning
help
The story
Ophelia is Greek for help, and its record is one of the clearest cases of a literary shadow lifting that this site has measured. Shakespeare's drowned heroine kept the name beautiful and unbearable at once: real use a century ago, about 3,300 in the 1920s, then a seventy-year slide to 252 in all of the 1990s, a name families loved and would not touch. The turn is recent and steep: about 470, then 4,000 in the 2010s, and already 6,600 so far this decade, past the full 2010s with years to run, helped along, perhaps, by a folk-rock chorus that made the name radio-warm in 2016; decade buckets point, they do not convict. In our records: about 25,200 girls to 15 boys. The tragedy stayed in the play; the beauty finally walked out of it. Lilith's story one shelf over shows the same door opening.
Ophelia in song
Ophelia
The Band (1975)
Levon Helm chasing after a woman who vanished without a word, carried along by a horn arrangement that sounds like a parade going by.
How popular is Ophelia around the world?
In the United States, 6,560 babies were named Ophelia between 2020 and 2025. In England and Wales, 578 girls named Ophelia were born in 2025, the 81st most common name among girls that year.
Ophelia is on the official records of the United States, England and Wales, Canada, Scotland, Austria, New Zealand, Ireland, South Australia, France, Mexico City, Argentina, Brazil and Spain.
United States
1 in 3,300
In the United States, 6,560 babies were named Ophelia between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Ophelia peaked in the 2020s.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
England and Wales
1 in 1,000
In England and Wales, 578 girls named Ophelia were born in 2025, the 81st most common name among girls that year.
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
Canada
1 in 1,800
In Canada, 202 girls named Ophelia were born in 2024, the 131st most common name among girls that year.
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)
Scotland
1 in 3,300
In Scotland, 14 girls named Ophelia were registered in 2024, the 260th most common name among girls that year.
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
Austria
1 in 3,300
In Austria, 23 girls named Ophelia were born in 2025, the 258th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
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)
New Zealand
1 in 4,800
In New Zealand, 12 girls named Ophelia were registered in 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
Ireland
1 in 18,000
In Ireland, 3 girls named Ophelia were born in 2025, the 885th most common name among girls that year.
The count never rose above 6 in a year, too few to chart.
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
South Australia
1 in 18,0002017
In South Australia, 1 girl was registered as Ophelia in 2017.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
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
France
1 in 43,000
In France, about 15 girls named Ophelia were born in 2025, ranked 2,075th among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. This registry counts each spelling separately; the figures above are for the exact spelling Ophelia, and accented spellings are separate names. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Mexico City City
1 in 59,000
In Mexico City, there were 2 registrations of Ophelia in 2022.
The count never rose above 5 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
Argentina
1 in 330,000
In Argentina, 2 newborns were given the name Ophelia in 2024.
The count never rose above 2 in a year, too few to chart.
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
Brazil
1 in 1M
At the 2022 census, 229 people in Brazil were named Ophelia, ranked 23,072nd, with a median age of 85.
Among people named Ophelia living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 1930s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
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
Spain
1 in 1.9M
In Spain, 24 residents are named Ophelia, ranked 27,129th among women, with a mean age of 28 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
Poland
last on record 2024
Ophelia 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 2 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)
Not on the record in Puerto Rico: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
Not on the Chile record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 5 registrations in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the Montevideo record for 1940 to 2011: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years. Not on Norway’s list: Statistics Norway lists only first names carried by 200 or more living people, so rarer names are not shown.
Keep exploring
The Ophelia deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Ophelia 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 Ophelia fits with your family’s names and surname.
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