The first name Arabella
A girl’s name from Latin meaning “yielding to prayer”.
Pronounced /æɹəˈbɛlə/ 4 syllables Female
Meaning and origin
Latin origin
Arabella means “yielding to prayer” in Latin.
Uncertain, used in Scotland since the sixteenth century; possibly from Latin orabilis (“yielding to prayer”) or a variant of Annabel.
From Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Popularity
Babies registered in England and Wales, 1996–2025
In 2025, 1,368 girls were named Arabella, making it the 22nd most popular girls’ name.
Office for National Statistics; years with fewer than three births are not published and show as zero. Compare Arabella with other names.
Popularity in the United States
Babies named Arabella at birth, 1880–2025
In 2025, 1,423 girls born in the United States were named Arabella, the 213th most popular girls’ name that year. It was used most in 2014, when 1,914 were.
US Social Security Administration, from applications for a Social Security card. A name is only published for a year when at least five babies were given it, so quieter years show as zero.
Arabella in other languages
Equivalent forms of the name, from Wiktionary
Famous people named Arabella
5 on Wikidata, most written-about first
- Arabella Elizabeth RoupellBritish painter, botanical and scientific illustrator (1817-1914)
- Arabella MansfieldAmerican lawyer and suffragist (1846–1911)
- Arabella DormanBritish war artist and portrait painter, born 1975
- Arabella FieldAmerican actress, born 1965
- Arabella GoddardBritish musician (1836-1922)
More Latin girls’ names
Questions
- What does the name Arabella mean?
- Arabella means “yielding to prayer” in Latin.
- What is the origin of the name Arabella?
- Uncertain, used in Scotland since the sixteenth century; possibly from Latin orabilis (“yielding to prayer”) or a variant of Annabel.
- How popular is the name Arabella?
- In 2025, 1,368 girls born in England and Wales were named Arabella, ranking 22nd.
- Is Arabella a boy's or a girl's name?
- Mostly a girl's name: 100% of the 27,957 US babies named Arabella since 1880 were girls.
- When was Arabella most popular?
- 2014 in the United States, when 1,914 babies were named Arabella, its highest rank at 174th.
- How do you pronounce Arabella?
- Arabella is /æɹəˈbɛlə/, 4 syllables.