# Ada (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ada/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | not recorded |
| Meaning | “noble” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈeɪdə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 107,183 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 278 / 106,905 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 10,460, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Short form of Germanic names beginning with adal (“noble”), such as Adelaide. Also Latinized form of Hebrew Adah. The programming language takes its name from Ada Lovelace.

## What it means

Ada is grouped under noble.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 606 | 489 |
| 2012 | 634 | 484 |
| 2013 | 703 | 435 |
| 2014 | 871 | 374 |
| 2015 | 922 | 355 |
| 2016 | 968 | 345 |
| 2017 | 1,020 | 319 |
| 2018 | 1,302 | 251 |
| 2019 | 1,467 | 208 |
| 2020 | 1,560 | 185 |
| 2021 | 1,650 | 180 |
| 2022 | 1,657 | 181 |
| 2023 | 1,652 | 179 |
| 2024 | 1,575 | 191 |
| 2025 | 1,401 | 219 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1926 | 6 | 3,709 |
| 1927 | 12 | 2,409 |
| 1928 | 10 | 2,659 |
| 1929 | 8 | 2,983 |
| 1931 | 6 | 3,390 |
| 1933 | 6 | 3,268 |
| 1935 | 7 | 2,954 |
| 1938 | 10 | 2,326 |
| 1941 | 6 | 3,134 |
| 1975 | 5 | 5,470 |
| 1984 | 6 | 5,569 |
| 1985 | 5 | 6,531 |
| 2004 | 6 | 9,964 |
| 2006 | 6 | 10,679 |
| 2010 | 7 | 9,705 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 121 | 386 |
| 2012 | 123 | 384 |
| 2013 | 168 | 280 |
| 2014 | 217 | 233 |
| 2015 | 293 | 187 |
| 2016 | 341 | 164 |
| 2017 | 470 | 114 |
| 2018 | 811 | 65 |
| 2019 | 1,028 | 47 |
| 2020 | 1,140 | 38 |
| 2021 | 1,058 | 44 |
| 2022 | 1,138 | 36 |
| 2023 | 1,089 | 37 |
| 2024 | 1,049 | 40 |
| 2025 | 1,014 | 40 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 3 | 3,849 |
| 2006 | 4 | 3,385 |
| 2008 | 6 | 2,775 |
| 2010 | 4 | 3,865 |
| 2011 | 4 | 3,830 |
| 2012 | 3 | 4,805 |
| 2021 | 3 | 4,789 |

## People named Ada

- Ada Lovelace, English mathematician (1815–1852)
- Ada of Caria, 4th-century BC Satrap and Queen of Caria
- Ada, Countess of Holland, Countess regnant of Holland from 1203 to 1207
- Ada Kok, Dutch swimmer (born 1947)
- Ada Adler, Danish classical scholar (1878-1946)
- Ada Louise Huxtable, American architecture writer (1921–2013)
- Ada Palmer, American historian and novelist (1981-)
- Ada Falcón, Argentine singer and actress (1905-2002)
- Ada Leverson, British writer (1862-1933)
- Ada Limón, American writer
- Ada Cambridge, English-born Australian writer (1844-1926)
- Ada Smith, British artistic gymnast (1903-1994)

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.