Arabella

a-ruh-BEHL-uh

Latin, Scottish

"yielding to prayer; lovable"

Arabella Origin and Meaning

The name Arabella is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "yielding to prayer; lovable".

Arabella, lovely and elegant, has long been well used in Britain and finally made it onto the American list in 2005. A Top 50 choice in the UK, in the US in remains in the Top 300, given to around 1300 babies each year.

Arabella was used as a given name beginning in the 12th century with the birth of Arabella de Leuchars, granddaughter of William the Lion, King of Scotland. It is derived from the Latin orabilis, from which Arabella gets its meaning. Some scholars tie Arabella to Amabel, claiming that the former developed as a variation of the latter in Scotland, much like the name Annabel.

Arabella has been a great favorite in English novels, dating as far back as Samuel Richardson's Clarissa and Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, and also appeared in The Vicar of Wakefield, Dickens's Pickwick Papers, George Eliot's Felix Holt and Thomas Hardy's Jude the Obscure, and more recently in Harry Potter.

Arabella is the title of a lyric comic opera by Richard Strauss, and was chosen for their daughters by Ivanka Trump and Dr. Oz. A real life heroine is Arabella Mansfield (born Belle Aurelia), the first American woman to become a lawyer.

Though off its 2017 peak, Arabella is a sophisticated choice especially recommended for parents who love the super-popular Isabella but want something more distinctive.

Arabella Rank in US Top 1000

# 227 in the US

Arabella Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 115 on Nameberry

Popularity of the name Arabella

• 227 US 2023
• 115 Nameberry 2025
• 89 Future 2028
• 43 England 2023
• 57 Scotland 2024
• 89 New Zealand 2024

20 Names Similar to Arabella

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Arabella.

• Anastasia
• Serena
• Celeste
• Lucia
• Maia
• Valentina
• Anya
• Elena
• Athena
• Seraphina
• Evangeline
• Amara
• Liliana
• Delilah
• Aurora
• Aria
• Selene
• Lorelei
• Cassandra
• Thalia

Famous People Named Arabella

• Arabella Mansfield (born Belle Aurelia Babb) first woman lawyer in the U.S.
• Arabella Weir British comedienne, actress, and writer
• Arabella Churchill mistress of King James II of England
• Arabella Steinbacher German classical violinist
• Arabella Burton Buckley English scientist and author
• Arabella Morton Australian actress
• Arabella Spencer Churchill, granddaughter of British PM Winston Churchill
• (Cosima) Arabella Asereba Kiesbauer, German,Austrian TV presenter
• Arabella Rosalind Hungerford "Bella" Pollen English fashion designer and novelist
• Arabella Árbenz Guatemalan model and actress; daughter of Guatemalan President Jacobo Árbenz
• Arabella Field American actress
• Arabella Fermor inspiration for Belinda in Alexander Pope's The Rape of the Lock
• Arabella Goddard English pianist
• Arabella Yarrington "Belle" Huntington 2nd wife of American railway tycoon Collis Huntington; 2nd wife of Henry Huntington
• Arabella Kennedy (b. 1956) stillborn daughter of U.S. President John F. Kennedy
• Arabella Simone Eigenmann (b.2017) daughter of Geoff Eigenmann

The name Arabella in Pop Culture

• "Arabella " comic opera by Richard Strauss and its main character
• "Arabella " novel by Georgette Heyer and its main character
• Arabella Danesi main character in 1968 film "Arabella"
• Arabella Fermor subject of Alexander Pope's poem "The Rape of the Lock, 1712
• Arabella main character in "The Female Quixote" by Charlotte Lennox, 1752
• Arabella Clarissa Harlow's elder sister in Samuel Richardson's "Clarissa," 1745
• Arabella Hunt character in Henry Fielding's "Tom Jones," 1749
• Arabella Wilmont character in Oliver Goldsmith's "The Vicar of Wakefield," 1766
• Arabella Allen 'a black,eyed young lady, in a very nice little pair of boots' in Charles Dickens' "Pickwick Papers," 1836
• Arabella Briggs character in W.M. Thackeray's "Vanity Fair," 1847
• Arabella Trefoil husband,hunting character in "The American Senator," by Anthony Trollope, 1877
• Arabella Duchess of Berwick, character in Oscar Wilde's "Lady Windermere's Fan," 1892
• Arabella Donn character in Thomas Hardy's "Jude the Obscure," 1894
• "Little Arabella Miller " nursery rhyme
• Arabella Willow character in Shirley Jackson's "The Sundial"
• Arabella Figg character in the Harry Potter series
• Arabella Lucre character in Winifred Phelps' "Temptation Sordid or Virtue Rewarded"
• Arabella character in the 1996 film 'Far Harbor'
• Arabella Chandler character in American soap 'All My Children'
• Arabella Whipple Lucy's mother in "The Ballad of Lucy Whipple" by Karen Cushman
• Lady Arabella Marchand du Belmont character in 2011 TV movie 'A Princess for Christmas"
• Princess Arabella character 2004 movie 'The Prince and Me"
• "Arabella " song by the Arctic Monkeys
• Arabella Strange character in Susanna Clarke's novel "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell"
• Arabella the Spanish town Inigo grew up in in the book "The Princess Bride"
• Arabella Bishop love interest in the 1935 movie "Captain Blood", played by Olivia de Havilland

International Variations of the name Arabella

• Arabelle French