Adela
Meaning and origin
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from the Germanic languages. Latinate form of French Adèle, short form of Germanic compound names beginning with Proto-Germanic *aþalaz (“noble”). Compare Old English æþele, English athel.
Source: Wiktionary, English entry for Adela (CC BY-SA 4.0). This is the origin of the name in English; families in Sweden may have taken it from another language.
Popularity in Sweden
Among newborns, Adela has been fairly steady over the last few years. Its best year between 1998 and 2022 was 2015. The figures are for this exact spelling; other spellings of the name are counted on their own.
Years with fewer than two babies (fewer than ten before 2004) show as zero in the chart and as – in the table.
Show the figures
| Year | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1998 | – |
| 1999 | – |
| 2000 | 10 |
| 2001 | – |
| 2002 | – |
| 2003 | 12 |
| 2004 | 8 |
| 2005 | 6 |
| 2006 | 12 |
| 2007 | 13 |
| 2008 | 5 |
| 2009 | 7 |
| 2010 | 13 |
| 2011 | 8 |
| 2012 | 15 |
| 2013 | 10 |
| 2014 | 9 |
| 2015 | 17 |
| 2016 | 11 |
| 2017 | 13 |
| 2018 | 8 |
| 2019 | 8 |
| 2020 | 12 |
| 2021 | 9 |
| 2022 | 15 |
Everyone registered in Sweden on 31 December with this as the first name they use.
Show the figures
| Year | Women and girls |
|---|---|
| 1999 | 313 |
| 2000 | 321 |
| 2001 | 320 |
| 2002 | 316 |
| 2003 | 328 |
| 2004 | 331 |
| 2005 | 334 |
| 2006 | 349 |
| 2007 | 356 |
| 2008 | 368 |
| 2009 | 375 |
| 2010 | 386 |
| 2011 | 394 |
| 2012 | 410 |
| 2013 | 427 |
| 2014 | 440 |
| 2015 | 458 |
| 2016 | 474 |
| 2017 | 491 |
| 2018 | 508 |
| 2019 | 520 |
| 2020 | 531 |
Adela in a sentence
- Hej! Jag heter Adela.Hi! My name is Adela.
- Adela har bott i Uppsala i tre år.Adela has lived in Uppsala for three years.
- Vet du om Adela kommer på festen på lördag?Do you know if Adela is coming to the party on Saturday?
- Adelas mamma är lärare.Adela's mum is a teacher.
Swedish shows possession with a plain -s and no apostrophe: Adelas mamma is Adela's mum.
Related names and other spellings
More names
Questions about Adela
How do you pronounce Adela in Swedish?
Press Listen at the top of the page to hear Adela in your device's Swedish voice.
What does the name Adela mean?
Wiktionary describes it as a female given name from the Germanic languages. Latinate form of French Adèle, short form of Germanic compound names beginning with Proto-Germanic *aþalaz (“noble”). Compare Old English æþele, English athel.
How popular is Adela in Sweden?
15 babies were named Adela in 2022. In 2020, 531 people in Sweden had Adela as the first name they go by. Among newborns the name has been fairly steady lately and peaked in 2015 in the years SCB covers (1998–2022).
Popularity figures: Statistics Sweden (SCB), name statistics (BE0001) from the Statistical Database, released as open data under CC0. Each spelling is counted as its own name, as SCB does. SCB's open name statistics end with babies named in 2022 and the population on 31 December 2020; SCB stopped producing name statistics in 2024 and now points to the Swedish Tax Agency (Skatteverket) for newer figures.
Origins, IPA and recordings: Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0), via kaikki.org; recordings from Lingua Libre on Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA). Lingolib is not affiliated with SCB or Wiktionary. Sources last checked 7 October 2026.