# Ophelia (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ophelia/  
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 | Greek |
| Meaning | “help”, “aid”, “succour” |
| Pronunciation | /oʊˈfi.əl.jə/, 3 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 25,785 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 15 / 25,770 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 5,517, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

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”). The name was used by William Shakespeare for the daugher of Polonius and ill-fated love interest of Hamlet. The moon (of Uranus) is named after this character. Doublet of anopheles

## What it means

Ophelia is grouped under protector.

## 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 | 109 | 1,850 |
| 2012 | 139 | 1,573 |
| 2013 | 185 | 1,280 |
| 2014 | 226 | 1,122 |
| 2015 | 276 | 980 |
| 2016 | 533 | 582 |
| 2017 | 765 | 417 |
| 2018 | 839 | 373 |
| 2019 | 813 | 385 |
| 2020 | 794 | 391 |
| 2021 | 1,014 | 321 |
| 2022 | 1,169 | 271 |
| 2023 | 1,177 | 265 |
| 2024 | 1,223 | 259 |
| 2025 | 1,183 | 264 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1915 | 5 | 4,235 |
| 1924 | 5 | 4,791 |
| 1927 | 5 | 4,638 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 108 | 412 |
| 2012 | 115 | 406 |
| 2013 | 152 | 306 |
| 2014 | 141 | 326 |
| 2015 | 197 | 253 |
| 2016 | 177 | 283 |
| 2017 | 243 | 212 |
| 2018 | 335 | 161 |
| 2019 | 282 | 177 |
| 2020 | 277 | 180 |
| 2021 | 433 | 116 |
| 2022 | 603 | 81 |
| 2023 | 620 | 74 |
| 2024 | 645 | 73 |
| 2025 | 578 | 81 |

## In other languages

- Armenian: Օֆելյա
- Esperanto: Ofelio
- French: Ophélie
- German: Ophelia
- Greek: Οφηλία
- Polish: Ofelia
- Portuguese: Ofélia
- Russian: Офе́лия
- Spanish: Ofelia
- Turkish: Ofelya

## People named Ophelia

- Ophelia Lovibond, English actress (born 1986)
- Ophelia Benson, American writer
- Ophelia Pastrana, Colombian-Mexican YouTuber
- Ophélia Kolb, French actress
- Minnie Pearl, American comedian and country singer (1912–1996)

## 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.