Bella

Where Bella comes from

From Italian: a diminutive of Isabella and Arabella, by folk etymology interpreted as bella (“beautiful”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Bella
  • Italian
  • 2 syllables
  • Vowel-ended
Bella through the years
  1. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #466 among girls, with 13 babies in the first year on record.
  2. 1920
    Bella Abzug born
    American politician
  3. 1928
    Bella Darvi born
    actress
  4. 2005
    Around this time: Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
    Book, 2005 · Source · Date
    “This name has increased in usage following the publication of the Twilight book series by American novelist Stephenie Meyer.”
  5. 2010
    Peak, #48
    5,136 babies named Bella, the most in any year.
  6. 2023
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births, down to #104.
In the dictionary
  • A female given name from Italian.
Namesakes
  • Bella Abzug · American politician, 1920–1998
  • Bella Darvi · actress, 1928–1971
  • Bella Rosenfeld · American writer and artist model, 1889–1944
  • Bella Moretti · American pornographic actress, born 1989
  • Bella Agossou · Beninese actress, born 1981

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record. Events show what happened around then, not why parents chose the name. Quotes are from the linked Wikipedia article (CC BY-SA 4.0).