🔥Ophelia

o-FEEL-ee-uh or o-FEEL-ya

Greek

"help"

Ophelia Origin and Meaning

The name Ophelia is a girl's name of Greek origin meaning "help".

Floral, elegant, and bold, Ophelia re-entered the US Top 1000 in 2015 after more than 50 years off the charts. It has risen more than 700 spots since then and shows no signs of slowing down. Now in the US Top 300, could Ophelia one day become the next Olivia or Amelia?

It's certainly catching up in the UK, where, as of 2022, it's in the Top 100 and given to nearly 600 baby girls. Less likely to be heard as 'I feel ya', as it is pronounced with four syllables in the UK, Ophelia makes an arty but approachable choice.

Derived from the Ancient Greek word "opheleia", which means "help", Ophelia was used first by the poet Sannazaro in his 15th century poem "Arcadia". It was then popularized by Shakespeare's Hamlet in the 1600s and again in the 19th century by John Millais' painting.

Other namesakes include the gutsy Ophelia in Harriet Beecher Stowe's 1852 Uncle Tom's Cabin, which seems to have had some influence on baby namers at the time, and more recently, the song "Ophelia" by The Lumineers.

Among the actresses who have played modern non-Shakespearean Ophelias are Jamie Lee Curtis in "Trading Places" and Blake Lively in "Savages". The heroine of the film Pan's Labyrinth uses the Spanish spelling, Ofelia, while a popular YA novel, Ophelia After All by Racquel Marie sticks with the Shakespearean one.

Actress Patricia Neal and author Roald Dahl named one of their now grown daughters Ophelia, and more recently musician Dave Grohl named his baby girl Ophelia Saint.

A hugely popular name on Nameberry and now out in the 'real world' too, you may hear this Shakespearean gem more often in the coming years. So, if you love Ophelia but want to beat the trends, you could try Cressida, Olympia, Cordelia, or Cerelia.

Ophelia Rank in US Top 1000

# 267 in the US

Ophelia Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

# 29 on Nameberry

Ophelia Popularity

• 267 US 2023
• 29 Nameberry 2025
• 116 Canada 2023
• 308 Future 2028
• 74 England 2023
• 427 Germany 2016

20 Names Similar to Ophelia

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

• Persephone
• Cordelia
• Aurelia
• Luna
• Seraphina
• Aurora
• Juniper
• Freya
• Elodie
• Florence
• Genevieve
• Delilah
• Lilith
• Iris
• Maeve
• Clementine
• Astrid
• Eloise
• Evangeline
• Penelope

Famous People Named Ophelia

• Ophelia Benson American feminist author
• (Emma) Ophelia DeVore American model
• Ophelia Ford American politician
• Ophelia Lucy Lovibond English actress
• Ophelia Marie Dominican Calypso singer
• Ophelia Dagger YouTuber
• Ophelia Alcantara Dimalanta Filipina poet
• Ophelia Magdalena Dahl American social justice and health care advocate, daughter of writer Roald Dahl and actress Patricia Neal
• Ophelia Saint Grohl (b. 2014) daughter of musician Dave Grohl

Ophelia in Pop Culture

• Ophelia character in Shakespeare's "Hamlet"
• Ophelia character in movie "Trading Places"
• Ophelia "O" Sage character in movie "Savages"
• Ophelia Frump character on TV's "The Addams Family"
• Ophelia Jane Worthington Whittard, main character in "Ophelia and the Marvelous Boy" by Karen Foxlee
• "Rippling" Ophelia character in Norihiro Yagi's 'Claymore'
• Ophelia character on "The Royals"
• Ophelia character in MTV's "Awkward"
• Ophelia dog of singer Ariana Grande
• Ophelia Mayer a main character on MTV's Sweet/Vicious
• "Ophelia" a song by Japanese rock group L'Arc en,Ciel
• "Reviving Ophelia: Saving the Selves of Adolescent Girls " book by Mary Pipher
• Hurricane Ophelia 2017 storm
• Ophelia Banksly main character of the webcomic "Riverside Extras" by Miri Chamberlain
• Ophelia name of Madame Hydra in the framework of Marvels agents of shield tv