Annabella - Origin and Meaning of the name

[ 4 syll. an-na-bel-la, ann-abe-lla ] The girl name Annabella is pronounced as AENahBEHLah ^KEY. Annabella is used chiefly in English, German, and Italian, and its origin is Italian. Annabella has the meaning gracefully beautiful. The name is a combination of Anna and Bella, or it could be a form of Amabel influenced by the name Anna. The name was first used in 12th century Scotland, where the name was often used as an Anglicized version of the Gaelic Barabal. Annabella was the name of the mother of King James I of Scotland. It was also known from the name of the incestuous key female character in John Ford's play 'Tis Pity She's a Whore (1629-1633). Another form was later known from Edgar Allen Poe's poem, Anabel Lee (1849), written in tribute to his wife. Among English speakers, it was used generally from the 19th century.

Anabel (English and Spanish), Anabela (Portuguese), Anabella (Spanish), Annabel (English), Annabell (German), Annabelle (English and French), and Annaple (English) are variants of Annabella. See also the related forms, Anna (Hebrew, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic), Bella (English, German, and Italian), Amabel (English), and Arabella (English, German, and Italian).

Annabella is fairly popular as a baby name for girls, and it is also perceived to be fairly trendy. The name's popularity has been growing since the 2000s; before that, it was of very modest use only. Its usage peaked recently in 2006 with 0.025% of baby girls being named Annabella. Its ranking then was #556. In 2007, its usage was 0.025% and its ranking #568. Among the group of girl names directly related to Annabella, Anna (Hebrew, Breton, Catalan, Czech, Dutch, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Russian, Scandinavian, and Slavic) was the most widely used. In 2007, its use outnumbered Annabella's by 15 times.

Baby names that sound like Annabella include Anabela (Portuguese), Anabella (Spanish), Amabel (English), Anabel (English and Spanish), Annabel (English), Annabell (German), Annabelle (English and French), and Annaple (English).

^KEY: Pronunciation for Annabella: AE as in "at (AE.T)" ; N as in "knee (N.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)" ; B as in "be (B.IY)" ; EH as in "Ed (EH.D)" ; L as in "lee (L.IY)" ; AH as in "hut (HH.AH.T)"

Popularity Trend
for Annabella
from 1900 to 2007

Variant Popularity Chart
for Annabella
in 2007