UK girl's name
Adela
A feminine name of German origin meaning "noble" or "nobility".
For 2026, the newest official UK baby-name figures on this page are from 2024. That release is the current official benchmark rather than a forecast.
Adela is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Adela popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #1603, with 19 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2019, with 38 births.
This profile covers 529 England and Wales registrations across 29 recorded years from 1996 to 2024. The figures come from ONS England and Wales and NRS Scotland, so the page is a view of published baby-name registrations rather than a forecast or a live count of people using the name today.
The latest count is about 50% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.
We estimate that about 539 living people in the UK are called Adela. This uses published birth registrations from England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, then applies ONS national life tables to estimate how many are likely still alive. It does not forecast extra births for 2025 or 2026.
Key insights
- • Adela ranked #1603 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 19 registrations.
- • The name peaked in 2019, when 38 girls were registered as Adela.
- • Adela ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #760 in 2022.
- • About 539 living people in the UK are estimated to have Adela as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.
Latest rank (E&W)
#1603
2024
Births in 2024
19
Latest year
Peak year
2019
38 births
Estimated living
539
2026
Meaning
What does Adela mean?
The name Adela is a feminine given name of Germanic origin, derived from the Old German words "adal" meaning "noble" and "hildy" meaning "battle." It first emerged in the medieval period, around the 8th century, and was commonly used among the nobility and ruling classes of various Germanic tribes and kingdoms.
The earliest recorded use of the name Adela can be traced back to the 9th century, when it was borne by Adela of Pfalzel, a Frankish noblewoman and the daughter of King Louis the German. Another notable bearer of the name was Adela of Blois (1067-1137), a Countess of Blois and one of the most powerful and influential women of her time in medieval France.
In the 12th century, the name gained popularity in England, where it was often spelled as "Adelina" or "Alina." One of the most famous bearers of the name from this period was Adela of Normandy (1067-1137), the daughter of William the Conqueror and the wife of Stephen, King of England.
The name Adela also appeared in various literary works and historical records throughout the Middle Ages, such as the Nibelungenlied, an epic poem from medieval German literature, where it was the name of one of the main characters.
Other notable historical figures named Adela include:
1. Adela of Hamaland (c. 875-923), a Frankish noblewoman and the mother of Emperor Otto I of Germany. 2. Adela of Lotharingia (c. 950-1015), a German noblewoman and the wife of King Hugh Capet of France. 3. Adela of Meissen (1160-1211), a German noblewoman and the wife of King Ottokar I of Bohemia. 4. Adela of Normandy (1067-1137), the daughter of William the Conqueror and the wife of Stephen, King of England. 5. Adela of Burgundy (c. 1103-1162), the daughter of Duke Odo I of Burgundy and the wife of King Louis VI of France.
While the name Adela fell out of widespread use in many parts of Europe after the Middle Ages, it continued to be used in some regions, particularly in Germany and parts of Eastern Europe, where it evolved into various regional spellings and forms, such as "Adela" in Polish and "Adéla" in Czech.
Sourced from namecensus.com.
Popularity
Adela over time
The chart below shows babies named Adela registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 1996 to 2024. Empty years are left out so rare names are not stretched across long periods where the published files do not show any registrations.
For Adela, the clearest high point is 2019. The latest England and Wales figure is 19 births in 2024, compared with 38 at the peak.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adela by decade
Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Adela was a short-lived spike or a name that stayed in regular use. Average rank is calculated only from years where a published rank exists.
| Decade | Average rank | Total births | Years covered |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | #1233 | 138 | 5 |
| 2010s | #1215 | 288 | 10 |
| 2000s | #2502 | 84 | 10 |
| 1990s | #3089 | 19 | 4 |
Geography
Where Adela is most common
The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Adela. They are useful for spotting where the name is showing up in real numbers, while the rank beside each bar shows how strongly it performs inside that region.
Adela ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #760 in 2022.
Across the UK
Adela in Scotland and Northern Ireland
Scotland (NRS)
#760 in 2022
4 years of NRS records, 13 total registered
Notable bearers
Famous people named Adela
-
Adela Pankhurst
suffragette; public figure; suffragist
British-Australian suffragette and political activist
1885-1961
-
Adela Verne
composer
English pianist (1877–1952)
1877-1952
-
Adela Carpenter-Garnier
(1873-1953)
1873-1953
-
Adela Marion Adam
philosopher; classical philologist; philosophy historian; women's rights activist; university teacher
English classicist
1866-1944
-
Adela Florence Nicolson
writer; poet
English poet (1865–1904)
1865-1904
-
Adela Maddison
composer
English composer (1862-1929)
1862-1929
-
Adela Orpen
writer
Irish writer (1855-1927)
1855-1927
-
Adela Breton
painter; archaeologist
English archaeological artist and explorer (1849-1923)
1849-1923
Related
Names similar to Adela
- Amelia 94,830
- Ava 54,556
- Amy 52,495
- Alice 46,815
- Abigail 45,658
- Amber 31,922
- Anna 27,802
- Alexandra 19,455
- Amelie 18,051
- Abbie 15,971
- Aimee 15,158
- Annabelle 15,120
FAQ
Adela: questions and answers
How popular is the name Adela in the UK right now?
In 2024, Adela was ranked #1603 for girls in England and Wales, with 19 births registered.
When was Adela most popular?
The peak year on record was 2019, with 38 babies registered as Adela in England and Wales.
What is the meaning and origin of Adela?
A feminine name of German origin meaning "noble" or "nobility".
How many people are called Adela in the UK?
A total of 529 babies have been registered as Adela across the 29 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 13 more in Scotland.
Where is Adela most common?
In the latest published local rankings, Adela ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #760 in 2022. The regional bars on this page use birth counts, so they also reflect the size of each region.
Which records is this page based on?
The England and Wales timeline uses ONS baby-name records. Scotland figures come from NRS and Northern Ireland figures come from NISRA. Counts are registrations in published baby-name files. The living estimate uses those birth registrations with ONS national life tables.