Adele
Adele was the 751st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 362 babies. Its best year was 1914, when it ranked 187th; the most babies were born in 1918 (1,030). Over the last ten years it has moved down 106 places. More babies were named Adele in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Meaning noble (from Germanic adal) · Germanic, French
Say it uh-DEL /əˈdɛl/
- Rank in 2025
- #751 girls, up 40 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 362girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 19181,030 babies
- Total since 1880
- 42,373babies recorded
What does the name Adele mean?
Adele is borrowed from French Adèle, the equivalent of Adela, from a Germanic root meaning noble, according to Wiktionary, which compares English athel and German edel. DMNES explains Adela as Old High German adal, noble, and lists medieval saints and queens of the name. DMNES notes that Adeline began as a pet form of Adela or Adelaide, built on the same element. Adele has been used in the US since 1880.
adal (Old High German, “noble”)
How sure is this? Well established.
Related names: Adela, Adelle, Adeline, Della, Adelaide.
See also: Germanic names, names that mean noble.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Adele' (English section), Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0; facts restated, no text reused)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Adela', DMNES (Durham University)
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Adeline', DMNES (Durham University)
- US Social Security Administration, national baby-name data 1880-2025 (yob*.txt), team3 computation of first year recorded, US Social Security Administration (public domain)
Nicknames for Adele
The usual nicknames for Adele are Addie and Del. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Adele in the last five years, 53 were named Addie, against 184 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addie · also for Addison, Adeline, Adalynn | Traditional | #1,272 | 916 |
| Del · also for Delilah, Delbert | Traditional | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Adeles go by each one.
Adele popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 11 since 1908.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #751 | 362 |
| 2020 | #791 | 344 |
| 2010 | #910 | 287 |
| 2000 | #1,827 | 94 |
| 1990 | #1,617 | 92 |
| 1980 | #1,396 | 89 |
| 1970 | #1,126 | 104 |
| 1960 | #605 | 272 |
| 1950 | #390 | 433 |
| 1940 | #366 | 322 |
| 1930 | #266 | 558 |
| 1920 | #206 | 944 |
| 1910 | #224 | 288 |
| 1900 | #230 | 186 |
| 1890 | #208 | 133 |
| 1880 | #240 | 41 |
How popular is Adele, counting every spelling?
Adele is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #712 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #751 for Adele on its own. Together these spellings went to 398 girls in 2025.
Spellings count together when they sound the same in American English and are used for the same sex; nicknames and forms that sound different (such as Theo and Theodore) are kept apart. How we group spellings.
How many kids will share the name Adele?
362 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Adele (0.10 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Adele born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is under 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 23 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Adele.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Adele?
About 17,700 people born in the US named Adele are alive today, with a median age of 45; half are between 13 and 72. That makes Adele mostly worn by adults in their thirties to fifties. The wide spread shows a name popular in two different eras.
Babies given the name each year (SSA) times the share of that birth year still alive (SSA life tables). Counts people born in the US only. Method.
Adele by state
How common Adele was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New York (3.4×), New Jersey (2.7×), Louisiana (2.2×), Washington (1.9×), Illinois (1.7×). In 23 states fewer than five girls a year got the name, too few for SSA to publish, so those states show as zero.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Adele: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Adele, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Adele · Sibling names for Adele
Questions about the name Adele
What does Adele mean?
Adele means “noble (from Germanic adal)” (Germanic, French origin). Certainty: well established.
How popular is the name Adele?
Adele was the 751st most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 362 babies. Its best year was 1914, when it ranked 187th; the most babies were born in 1918 (1,030). Over the last ten years it has moved down 106 places. More babies were named Adele in the 1920s than in any other decade.
Is Adele a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Adele in the US.
Where is Adele most popular?
In 2021–2025, Adele was most common in New York (0.72 per 1,000 girls), followed by New Jersey and Louisiana.