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At a Glance: Name: Arabella – Meaning: yielding to prayer (one of two competing theories) – Origin: Latin (disputed; possibly a variant of Annabel) – Gender: Girl – Pronunciation: air-ah-BEL-ah
Arabella carries a storybook-romantic, timeless-classic feel, pronounced air-ah-BEL-ah. Its origin traces to Latin, though scholars are divided: some link it to orabilis, meaning 'yielding to prayer,' while others see it as a variant of Annabel. You may see Arabella glossed elsewhere as 'beautiful altar' or 'beautiful eagle,' but neither claim lines up with either of the two scholarly theories — that gloss looks to be a popular invention rather than a verified meaning.
Meaning & Origin of Arabella
Meaning: Yielding to prayer (one of two competing theories).
Origin: Latin (disputed; possibly a variant of Annabel).
A common claim: Arabella is often listed as meaning 'beautiful altar' or 'beautiful eagle'. Actually: Neither gloss is supported by the two competing scholarly theories (Latin orabilis, 'yielding to prayer', or a variant of Annabel); 'beautiful altar/eagle' appears to be popular invention.
Source: Wiktionary, Wikipedia.
How to Pronounce Arabella
Phonetic: air-ah-BEL-ah IPA: /ɛrəˈbɛlə/
Popularity of Arabella
Arabella peaked at #157 in 2017, when 1,476… no wait, 1,889 girls were given the name, and has since eased to #206 in 2024 with 1,476 babies, across SSA data running from 1881 to 2024.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration birth-name data via names_full.json, 1881–2024.
Make Arabella Name Art
Free printable nursery art for Arabella, pre-loaded below — pick a layout, palette, and font, then download a print-ready PNG.
Names With a Similar Story
Derived from shared style, era, and origin data (or, for names without a catalog record, a similar Social Security popularity trajectory) — not a hand-picked list.
FAQ
What does the name Arabella mean?
Yielding to prayer (one of two competing theories). (Source: Wiktionary, https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Arabella)
How do you pronounce Arabella?
Arabella is pronounced air-ah-BEL-ah (IPA: /ɛrəˈbɛlə/).
Is Arabella a popular name right now?
Arabella peaked at #157 in 2017 and is ranked #206 as of 2024. (U.S. Social Security Administration data, 1881–2024.)
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