NameCensus.

UK girl's name

Arella

A feminine diminutive of Areli, meaning "lion" in ancient Hebrew.

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.

Arella is a girl's name in the UK records. People looking for Arella popularity in 2026 should use the latest official release, which is 2024 in this profile. In that release it ranked #2253, with 12 babies registered with the name. Its strongest year in the published records was 2023, with 12 births.

This profile covers 79 England and Wales registrations across 13 recorded years from 2007 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 100% of the recorded peak, which gives a quick read on how the name has moved since its high point.

We estimate that about 82 living people in the UK are called Arella. 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

  • Arella ranked #2253 for girls in England and Wales in 2024, with 12 registrations.
  • The name peaked in 2023, when 12 girls were registered as Arella.
  • Arella ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #790 in 2024.
  • About 82 living people in the UK are estimated to have Arella as a first name, after adjusting past birth registrations with ONS life tables.

Latest rank (E&W)

#2253

2024

Births in 2024

12

Latest year

Peak year

2023

12 births

Estimated living

82

2026

Meaning

What does Arella mean?

The name Arella is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek language. It is a feminine name that is thought to be derived from the Greek word "arelle," which means "small deer" or "fawn." This association with a graceful and gentle creature may have contributed to the name's appeal as a given name for girls.

In Greek mythology, there was a figure named Arella, who was a minor goddess associated with the protection of young animals. While she was not a prominent deity, her connection to the name's meaning and the natural world likely influenced its usage as a personal name in ancient Greece.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arella can be found in a historical text from the 5th century BCE, where it was mentioned as the name of a young woman from Athens. This suggests that the name was in use during the classical period of ancient Greek civilization.

Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Arella. One of the most famous was Arella of Cyrene (c. 280 BCE - c. 240 BCE), a Greek philosopher and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of geometry and logic. She is credited with developing several theorems and proofs that were later incorporated into the works of influential thinkers like Euclid.

Another historical figure with the name Arella was Arella of Lesbos (c. 520 BCE - c. 470 BCE), a renowned lyric poet and musician from the island of Lesbos. Her poems, which celebrated love and nature, were widely admired and preserved in ancient anthologies, although only fragments of her work have survived to the present day.

In the 2nd century CE, there was a Roman noblewoman named Arella Faustina (c. 125 CE - c. 175 CE), who was known for her patronage of the arts and her influential role in the imperial court of the Antonine dynasty. She commissioned numerous public works and sponsored the careers of many artists and writers during her lifetime.

During the Byzantine era, Arella Comnena (c. 1065 CE - c. 1120 CE) was a prominent figure in the imperial court of Constantinople. She was a scholar and historian who authored several works on the history and culture of the Byzantine Empire, which remain valuable sources of information for modern researchers.

Another notable bearer of the name was Arella of Avignon (c. 1310 CE - c. 1380 CE), a French noblewoman and poet who was renowned for her works of courtly love poetry. Her poems, written in the Occitan language, were widely circulated and admired among the aristocratic circles of medieval France and Provence.

Sourced from namecensus.com.

Popularity

Arella over time

The chart below shows babies named Arella registered in England and Wales in the years where the name appears in the published records, from 2007 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 Arella, the clearest high point is 2023. The latest England and Wales figure is 12 births in 2024, compared with 12 at the peak.

Babies born per year

Arella
036912200720152024

Decades

Arella by decade

Decade totals smooth out the yearly jumps and make it easier to see whether Arella 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 #2958 43 5
2010s #4518 33 7
2000s #5201 3 1

Geography

Where Arella is most common

The bars show the latest published local birth counts for Arella. 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.

Arella ranks best in Scotland in the latest published regional snapshot for that area, where it placed #790 in 2024.

Scotland
3

Across the UK

Arella in Scotland and Northern Ireland

Scotland (NRS)

#790 in 2024

1 years of NRS records, 3 total registered

Related

Names similar to Arella

FAQ

Arella: questions and answers

How popular is the name Arella in the UK right now?

In 2024, Arella was ranked #2253 for girls in England and Wales, with 12 births registered.

When was Arella most popular?

The peak year on record was 2023, with 12 babies registered as Arella in England and Wales.

What is the meaning and origin of Arella?

A feminine diminutive of Areli, meaning "lion" in ancient Hebrew.

How many people are called Arella in the UK?

A total of 79 babies have been registered as Arella across the 13 years of ONS England & Wales records shown here, plus 3 more in Scotland.

Where is Arella most common?

In the latest published local rankings, Arella ranks best in Scotland, where it placed #790 in 2024. 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.