Adeline is a feminine given name of French origin. It comes from the Old German elements "adal" meaning noble and "hild" meaning battle, which together form the meaning "noble battle". The name Adeline was first used in France during the Middle Ages and became popular throughout Europe during the 19th century. Today, Adeline is still widely recognized as a classic and elegant French name.
The name Adeline has seen a significant increase in popularity over the past few decades in the United States. Looking at the annual birth statistics from 1880 to 2023, we can observe several trends.
In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the number of babies named Adeline remained relatively low, with fewer than 50 births per year between 1880 and 1927. However, starting in the 1930s, there was a notable decrease in the popularity of the name, with fewer than 50 babies named Adeline each year until the mid-1960s.
Beginning in the late 1960s and continuing through the 1970s, the number of babies named Adeline slowly began to increase again. While still not reaching high numbers, there were between 20 and 50 births per year during this period.
The turning point for the name Adeline came in the early 1980s. In 1981, there were 53 babies named Adeline, marking a significant increase from previous years. This upward trend continued throughout the remainder of the decade and into the 1990s, with over 100 births per year between 1994 and 2000.
The new millennium brought an even more substantial surge in popularity for the name Adeline. Between 2000 and 2023, there were over 500 babies named Adeline each year, with peaks reaching over 3,000 births per year in recent years (e.g., 4118 births in 2016 and 3074 births in 2023).
In total, from 1880 to 2023, there were 73,177 babies named Adeline born in the United States. The name's popularity has fluctuated over time but has experienced a significant resurgence since the late 1970s, particularly in recent decades.