Adeline
Adeline was the 59th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 3,864 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 58th; the most babies were born in 2016 (4,120). Over the last ten years it has moved up 76 places. More babies were named Adeline in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Meaning noble · Germanic, French
Say it AD-uh-lyn /ˈædəlaɪn/
- Rank in 2025
- #59 girls, up 40 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 3,864girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20164,120 babies
- Total since 1880
- 80,838babies recorded
What does the name Adeline mean?
Adeline is an old French pet form built on Germanic names beginning with adal, 'noble', such as Adela and Adelaide; DMNES describes it as a diminutive of Adelheid or Adela that quickly became a name of its own. The Normans brought it to England, and DMNES finds it in English records from 1189. Wiktionary agrees that it reached England with the Normans as a diminutive of Adela and Adele. Addie is a common short form, and Adelina is the Latin and Spanish form.
adal (Old High German, “noble”)-ine (French, “diminutive ending”)
How sure is this? Probable.
Related names: Adelina, Adaline, Adalyn, Adelaide, Adela, Addie, Ada.
See also: Germanic names, names that mean noble.
Sources for this meaning
- Dictionary of Medieval Names from European Sources, ed. S. L. Uckelman, Edition 2023 no. 1, s.v. 'Adeline', Durham University / The DMNES Editors
- Wiktionary, entry 'Adeline', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation); facts restated, no text reused
Nicknames for Adeline
The usual nicknames for Adeline are Addie and Lina. Some parents skip the long form: for every 100 girls named Adeline in the last five years, 16 were named Lina, against 58 twenty years earlier.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Addie · also for Addison, Adalynn, Adelaide | Traditional | #1,272 | 916 |
| Lina · also for Evelina, Alina, Catalina | Modern | #572 | 2,529 |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Adelines go by each one.
Adeline popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 26 since 1921.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #59 | 3,864 |
| 2020 | #99 | 2,719 |
| 2010 | #323 | 990 |
| 2000 | #805 | 282 |
| 1990 | #2,289 | 55 |
| 1980 | #2,278 | 43 |
| 1970 | #2,017 | 41 |
| 1960 | #1,286 | 73 |
| 1950 | #825 | 112 |
| 1940 | #474 | 202 |
| 1930 | #268 | 555 |
| 1920 | #176 | 1,260 |
| 1910 | #172 | 395 |
| 1900 | #202 | 237 |
| 1890 | #195 | 150 |
| 1880 | #208 | 54 |
How popular is Adeline, counting every spelling?
Adeline is the most common spelling of a name family that ranked #21 for girls in 2025 once every spelling is counted together, compared with #59 for Adeline on its own. Together these spellings went to 7,187 girls in 2025.
| Spelling | Babies 2025 | Official rank | Babies 2021–2025 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Adeline | 3,864 | #59 | 16,287 |
| Adaline | 1,446 | #208 | 6,949 |
| Adelyn | 851 | #355 | 5,153 |
| Adelynn | 693 | #447 | 3,991 |
| Addelyn | 94 | #2,017 | 549 |
| Adelyne | 64 | #2,691 | 293 |
| Adelin | 42 | #3,577 | 236 |
| Addelynn | 32 | #4,354 | 156 |
| Adelynne | 38 | #3,832 | 156 |
| Addeline | 31 | #4,460 | 140 |
| Adelene | 15 | #7,142 | 91 |
| Adelinne | 6 | #13,228 | 42 |
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 Adeline?
3,864 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Adeline (1.07 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Adeline born in 2025, the chance that another child with the same name is in a class of 20 children the same age is about 1 in 50. If every grade liked the name as much as the 2025 babies do, only about one elementary school in 2 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Adeline.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Adeline?
About 52,600 people born in the US named Adeline are alive today, with a median age of 9; half are between 4 and 14. That makes Adeline a young name: most people with it are children.
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.
Adeline by state
How common Adeline was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in Vermont (3.8×), Alaska (3.5×), Maine (2.8×), North Dakota (2.8×), South Dakota (2.6×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in New York, New Jersey, Wyoming.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Adeline: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Adeline, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Adeline · Sibling names for Adeline
Questions about the name Adeline
What does Adeline mean?
Adeline means “noble” (Germanic, French origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Adeline?
Adeline was the 59th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 3,864 babies. Its best year was 2024, when it ranked 58th; the most babies were born in 2016 (4,120). Over the last ten years it has moved up 76 places. More babies were named Adeline in the 2010s than in any other decade.
Is Adeline a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Adeline in the US.
Where is Adeline most popular?
In 2021–2025, Adeline was most common in Vermont (7.63 per 1,000 girls), followed by Alaska and Maine.