Ada

What Ada means

Means “noble”

Short form of Germanic names beginning with adal (“noble”), such as Adelaide.

Source: Wiktionary, “Ada” (revision 93942022), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ada?

US: Rising: up from #355 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #187 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 1880, when 652 girls got the name (#33 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,147 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 250 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 235 baby girls in Scotland in 2025

“1 in N” divides by all listed births for that sex. The US list leaves out names given to fewer than 5 babies, and the UK lists leave out names given to 2 or fewer, so the real figure is a little rarer than shown.

Where in the US

Most popular in ND (3.7 per 1,000 girls), ME (3.21 per 1,000 girls), MT (2.83 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

SSA state data, 2025. Share of all listed girls born in each state.

US vs UK

Ada is #219 in the US and #40 in England & Wales (2025).

Same sex as this page (girls). SSA (US), ONS (England and Wales), NRS (Scotland).

Boy or girl?

In 2025, 99.9+% of US babies named Ada were girls.

Counts below the publishing threshold (US 5, UK 3) are not included.

How to say it

IPA from Wiktionary.

Other spellings parents chose in 2025

• Ida209 US · 126 E&W
• Ayda74 US · 165 E&W
• Aida154 US · 84 E&W
• Adah110 US · 10 E&W
• Idy46 US
• Eda22 US · 18 E&W
• Ita25 US · 6 E&W
• Addy30 US

Names that sound the same and differ by a letter or two, with baby counts for the same sex. US and E&W counts.

If you like Ada

Girls

• Amelia#4“vigor, bravery”^*
• Willa#422Editor’s note Up from #480 in 2015 to #422 in 2025 in the US
• Amalia#566“vigor, bravery”^*
• Evelina#778Editor’s note Up from #1,354 in 2015 to #778 in 2025 in the US
• Zelda#832Editor’s note Down from #648 in 2015 to #832 in 2025 in the US
• Emery#74Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #74 vs #1,197 in 2025

For a brother

• Oliver#3Editor’s note Up from #19 in 2015 to #3 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 110 US boys in the 2025 records
• Henry#5Editor’s note Up from #29 in 2015 to #5 in 2025 in the US. About 1 in 140 US boys in the 2025 records
• Everett#77Same root as Everard, meaning “wild boar + hard, brave”^*
• Milo#119Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #288 in 2015, #119 in 2025
• Emory#883Editor’s note Down from #830 in 2015 to #883 in 2025 in the US
• Emery#814Editor’s note Down from #745 in 2015 to #814 in 2025 in the US

Picked from the US top 1,000 in 2025: names Wiktionary also files under Germanic, whose US popularity since 1990 rose and fell most like Ada’s. Rank is US 2025.