Ophelia
Ophelia was the 264th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 1,183 babies. Its best year was 1882, when it ranked 232nd; the most babies were born in 2024 (1,223). Over the last ten years it has moved up 716 places. More babies were named Ophelia in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Meaning help (Greek, via an Italian coinage) · Greek, Italian
Say it oh-FEEL-yuh /oʊˈfiljə/
- Rank in 2025
- #264 girls, up 127 places since 2020
- Babies in 2025
- 1,183girls
- Girls and boys
- Almost always a girl’s name2021–2025
- Peak year
- 20241,223 babies
- Total since 1880
- 25,785babies recorded
What does the name Ophelia mean?
Ophelia was made famous by Shakespeare's Hamlet (about 1600), where she is Polonius's daughter. Wiktionary traces the name to Ofelia, a character created by the Italian poet Jacopo Sannazaro in his Arcadia (1504), probably based on Greek ōphéleia, "help, benefit". Because it is a literary coinage, the Greek meaning is likely but not certain.
ὠφέλεια (Ancient Greek, “help, aid, benefit”)
How sure is this? Probable. A Renaissance literary coinage; the Greek source word is probable.
Related names: Ofelia.
See also: Greek names.
Sources for this meaning
- Wiktionary, entry 'Ophelia', Wiktionary (Wikimedia Foundation)
- William Shakespeare, Hamlet (Project Gutenberg eBook #1524), Project Gutenberg
- CMU Pronouncing Dictionary (cmudict), Carnegie Mellon University
Nicknames for Ophelia
The usual nicknames for Ophelia are Ophie.
| Nickname | Kind | Rank 2025 | Girls, 5 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ophie | Modern | — | — |
Nicknames reviewed by our editors; counts are girls given the nickname as their legal first name. Nobody records how many Ophelias go by each one.
Ophelia popularity since 1880
A few boys are given the name too: 15 since 1915.
| Year | Rank (girls) | Babies (girls) |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #264 | 1,183 |
| 2020 | #391 | 794 |
| 2010 | #2,072 | 96 |
| 2000 | #5,448 | 21 |
| 1990 | #3,879 | 27 |
| 1980 | #3,189 | 27 |
| 1970 | #1,796 | 50 |
| 1960 | #1,060 | 103 |
| 1950 | #651 | 172 |
| 1940 | #570 | 149 |
| 1930 | #416 | 251 |
| 1920 | #348 | 353 |
| 1910 | #297 | 169 |
| 1900 | #268 | 150 |
| 1890 | #313 | 65 |
| 1880 | #236 | 44 |
How popular is Ophelia, counting every spelling?
Ophelia has no other common spelling that sounds the same. Counting every name's spellings together, it ranks #283 for girls in 2025, against #264 on the official list, because Lena/Lina/Leena and Kali/Cali/Kaleah and Marley/Marlee/Marlie move ahead once their spellings are combined.
How many kids will share the name Ophelia?
1,183 of the 3,606,400 babies born in the US in 2025 were named Ophelia (0.33 per 1,000 births). For a girl named Ophelia 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 7 (of 430 pupils) would have a child named Ophelia.
Shares of all registered births (NCHS); classes assumed to be children born the same year. How we estimate this.
How old are people named Ophelia?
About 14,800 people born in the US named Ophelia are alive today, with a median age of 8; half are between 4 and 32. That makes Ophelia 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.
Ophelia by state
How common Ophelia was among girls born in each state in 2021–2025. It is notably more common than nationally in New Hampshire (3.7×), Maine (3.7×), Montana (3.6×), Nebraska (2.9×), Oregon (2.7×). It is least common, relative to the national rate, in Delaware, New Jersey, Mississippi.
Names with a similar history
These names rose and fell in step with Ophelia: their share of US girls followed the most similar curve since 1880. If you like Ophelia, they share its era and feel.
Middle names for Ophelia · Sibling names for Ophelia
Questions about the name Ophelia
What does Ophelia mean?
Ophelia means “help (Greek, via an Italian coinage)” (Greek, Italian origin). Certainty: probable.
How popular is the name Ophelia?
Ophelia was the 264th most popular name for girls in 2025, given to 1,183 babies. Its best year was 1882, when it ranked 232nd; the most babies were born in 2024 (1,223). Over the last ten years it has moved up 716 places. More babies were named Ophelia in the 2020s than in any other decade.
Is Ophelia a boy or girl name?
In 2021–2025, almost always a girl’s name given the name Ophelia in the US.
Where is Ophelia most popular?
In 2021–2025, Ophelia was most common in New Hampshire (2.65 per 1,000 girls), followed by Maine and Montana.