Arabella

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 5 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Arabella is also recorded as 2 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Croatian given name77 records spelled Arabella15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Croatia, United States, North Macedonia, Serbia

  Languages: Croatian, Bulgarian, Macedonian

  Also written Arabela, Арабела

• Russian given name60 records spelled Arabella9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Ukraine, United States, United Kingdom

  Languages: Russian, Ukrainian

  Also written Арабелла, Арабэлла, Арабэла

43 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Arabella is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• Of uncertain origin; probably an altered form of An(n)abella (see Annabel). It occurs in Scotland and the North of

  as a name·A concise dictionary of first names

• In English, probably from Latin or Scottish usage

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In English, Latin; beautiful altar

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

• In German, ) Arabelle: weibl. Vom., wahr- scheinHch schottischer Herkunft, vielleicht

  as a name·DUDEN Lexikon der Vornamen

• Scottish and English: of uncertain etymology. It probably represents an alteration of An(n)abella (see ANNABEL ). Variant: Arabel (now rare, but commoner in earlier centuries, when it was also sometimes found as Or bel, apparently altered by folk etymology to conform with Latin or bilis invokable (from or re to pray to), i.e. a saint who could be invoked) .

  as a word

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 131 years between 1881–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Arabella Churchillb. 1648GBMistress of James II of England (1648-1730)
• Arabella Mansfieldb. 1846USAmerican lawyer and suffragist (1846–1911)
• Arabella Huntingtonb. 1850USAmerican art collector (1850-1924)
• Arabella Árbenzb. 1940GTGuatemalan fashion model and actress
• Arabella Kennedyb. 1956USstillborn daughter of United States President John Kennedy and First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy
• Arabella Weirb. 1957GBBritish comedian, actress, writer
• Arabella Fieldb. 1965USAmerican actress
• Arabella Steinbacherb. 1981DEGerman violinist
• Gracia Baurb. 1982DEnot in their usual nameGerman singer
• Arabella Stantonb. 2014GBBritish actress

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 533 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Arabella?

We estimate roughly 17 thousand people bear Arabella (counting its spellings and scripts) across 7 countries in our records.

In which country does Arabella have the most bearers?

We estimate about 16 thousand people bear Arabella in the United States, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled arabella.

How common is Arabella compared with other names?

In Estonia, Arabella is the 603rd most common given name of 14,570 given names recorded there.

Is Arabella a male or female name?

Arabella is a female name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Arabella mean?

Recorded meaning: Latin/English; possibly 'yielding to prayer'