Ophelia

What Ophelia means

Possibly “help, aid, succour”

Borrowed from Italian Ofelia, coined by the poet Jacopo Sannazaro in his poem Arcadia (1504), probably from the Ancient Greek ὠφέλειᾰ (ōphéleiă, “help, aid, succour”).

Source: Wiktionary, “Ophelia” (revision 90981564), CC BY-SA 4.0. Quoted from the etymology; we don’t write our own.

How popular is Ophelia?

US: Rising: up from #978 in 2015. England & Wales: Rising: up from #253 in 2015.

Biggest US share so far: 2024, when 1,223 girls got the name (#259 that year). First in the US records in 1880.

How common

• About 1 in 1,359 baby girls in the US in 2025
• About 1 in 438 baby girls in England and Wales in 2025
• About 1 in 813 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 AK (3.63 per 1,000 girls), MT (3.19 per 1,000 girls), SD (2.29 per 1,000 girls) in 2025.

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

US vs UK

Ophelia is #264 in the US and #81 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 Ophelia 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

• Ofelia87 US · 6 E&W
• Ophilia7 US
• Aphelia0 US · 3 E&W

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 Ophelia

Girls

• Iris#61“rainbow”^*
• Athena#109Editor’s note Up from #157 in 2015 to #109 in 2025 in the US
• Lena#279“the Large River”^*
• Elena#42Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #106 in 2015, #42 in 2025. 5 letters, starting with a vowel
• Thea#353“goddess”^*
• Zara#212“flower”^*

For a brother

• Theo#82Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #405 in 2015, #82 in 2025
• Niko#325Editor’s note First shows up in US records in 1962, with 5 babies
• Theodore#4Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #99 in 2015, #4 in 2025
• Leon#138“lion”^*
• Ambrose#735“immortal, divine”^*
• Adonis#241Editor’s note Climbing fast in the US: #698 in 2015, #241 in 2025

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