Bella

What Bella means

Form of Isabel, meaning “my God is an oath”

diminutive of Isabella || From Spanish Isabel, from Old Occitan Elisabel, from Latin Elisabeth, from Ancient Greek Ἐλισάβετ (Elisábet), from Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע (Elishéva, “my God is an oath”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Bella” (revision 92959626) and “Isabel” (revision 93568485), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Bella?

US: Falling: down from #74 in 2015. England & Wales: Falling: down from #58 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2010, when 5,136 girls got the name (#48 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 755 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 492 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 436 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 NM (3.85 per 1,000 girls), HI (3.73 per 1,000 girls), AK (3.63 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Bella is #136 in the US and #91 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 Bella 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

• Baila146 US
• Baela62 US · 4 E&W
• Bayla51 US
• Bela21 US · 8 E&W
• Beulah20 US · 6 E&W
• Billy14 US
• Beyla9 US
• Bellah7 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 Bella

Girls

• Ximena#183Basque, meaning “son”^*
• Lola#275Editor’s note Down from #224 in 2015 to #275 in 2025 in the US
• Alessandra#443Italian form of Alexandra, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Gia#287Editor’s note Up from #372 in 2015 to #287 in 2025 in the US
• Luciana#273Editor’s note More popular in the US than England & Wales: #273 vs #1,809 in 2025
• Valentina#35Same root as Valentine, meaning “strong, healthy”^*

For a brother

• Giovanni#123Same root as John, possibly meaning “God is gracious”^*
• Joaquin#355Spanish form of Joachim, meaning “may Yahweh raise up”^*
• Rocco#459Editor’s note Up from #463 in 2015 to #459 in 2025 in the US
• Alessandro#497Italian form of Alexander, meaning “to defend + man”^*
• Leonardo#91Italian, from Old French Leonard, meaning “as strong as a lion”^*
• Maximo#580Editor’s note Up from #853 in 2015 to #580 in 2025 in the US

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