Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Adeline

Adeline is the French diminutive of Adѐle, a popular name since medieval times thanks to the 7th/ 8th century St. Adele. She was the daughter of the Frankish King Dagobert II who became a nun upon the death of her husband, founded a convent and was revered for her holiness, prudence, and compassion. Adѐle was also the name borne by a daughter of William the Conqueror (which is how the name arrived in England in the 11th century). The name is Germanic in origin, from the word “adel” meaning ‘noble’. Adeline has been used occasionally among English speakers since the 16th century. Today, it is ranked with moderate usage in the United States and France.

All About the Baby Name – Adeline

Personality

OF THE GIRL NAME ADELINE

The number Five personality loves the excitement of life and can easily adapt to all situations. As natural adventurers, these personalities thrive on the new and unexpected and prefer to be in constant motion. It makes them feel alive. They'll stir up some action if there's not enough around, and as inherent risk-takers they enjoy pushing the envelope. Naturally rebellious, the Five personality has no fear and never resists change.  Traveling and new experiences feed their souls. Fives are very social and attract friends with ease. People love to be around the Five fun-loving and exciting energy.  This is also a lucky number in numerology (like the Threes), so fortune seems to shine on them, helped along by their own optimism and good-nature. Fives have a quick wit, a cerebral mind, and are generally very persuasive. 

Popularity

OF THE GIRL NAME ADELINE

Adeline has been on the U.S. female naming charts since the 19th century. Back in the early 1900s, Adeline was at the top of her game. Never a Top 100 choice for girls, she nonetheless maintained high-moderate usage in America. The name began a decline on the charts in the 20s, 30s and 40s and finally fell from favor by the 1950s. Adeline would disappear from the U.S. naming charts completely for 45 years, reemerging finally in 1999. Her comeback has been moderate but triumphant nonetheless. She is clearly riding the wave of renewed interest in old-fashioned girl names. She has risen on the charts by over 600 positions in 10 short years. Today the name enjoys restrained popularity, but her momentum is only forward. This French beauty has been around forever, so her recent rediscovery is a welcome change to modern names like Addison. Adeline is genteel, cosmopolitan and downright lovely. Yes, it’s similar sounding to Madeline, but these two French names have distinctly different origins. Adeline denotes a ‘noble’ sensibility true to her etymology.

Quick Facts

ON ADELINE

GENDER:

Girl

ORIGIN:

French

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

3

RANKING POPULARITY:

232

PRONUNCIATION:

a-də-LEEN or AD-ə-line

SIMPLE MEANING:

Noble

Characteristics

OF ADELINE

Freedom-loving

Adventurous

Adaptable

Intellectual

Easygoing

Progressive

Sensual

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Adeline

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME ADELINE

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Adeline

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME ADELINE

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Adeline


Popular Songs

ON ADELINE

Ruby Adeline
a song by Minnie Driver

Sweet Adeline
a song by The Fortunairs Barbershop Quartet

Lost In Adeline
a song by Junction 18

Adeline, Out of Tune
a song by The New Amsterdams

Adeline
a song by Army of Freshmen

Famous People

NAMED ADELINE

Adeline Virginia Stephen (aka, Virginia Woolf, writer)
Adeline Pond Adams (writer)
Adeline, Countess of Cardigan and Lancastre (royalty)
Adeline André (French fashion designer)
Adeline Canac (French figure skater)
Adeline Knapp (journalist/activist)
Adeline Miller (aka Adeline Furman, American madam and prostitute)

Children of Famous People

NAMED ADELINE

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Adeline

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME ADELINE

Virginia Woolf was one of the most important modern English writers, and a member of the famed artistic circle, the Bloomsbury Group. Among her best known works are Mrs. Dalloway, Orlando, and To the Lighthouse. Born to quintessentially British aristocracy, Virginia was the daughter of the renowned author and critic, Sir Leslie Stephen, and his wife, Julia Jackson Stephen, who served as a model for Edward Burne-Jones and who was herself the niece of photographer Julia Pattle Cameron. Virginia and her sister were tutored at home, as was the custom, but were also exposed to the results of the formal educations provided for their brothers. In addition, her parents’ prominence made for a lively household filled with visitors such as Henry James and James Russell Lowell. This idyllic childhood seems to have ended with the death of her mother in 1895, followed by that of a half-sister two years later. These deaths, along with that of her father in 1904, precipitated increasingly severe bouts of mental breakdowns that were to continue throughout her life. In 1912 Virginia married Leonard Woolf and embarked upon a happy marriage, marred only by her periodic nervous breakdowns and her suicide by drowning in 1941. Together they established the Hogarth Press, which published many of Virginia’s works, as well as those by such luminaries as T. S. Eliot, Laurens van der Post, and Virginia’s sister, Vanessa Bell. Virginia Woolf fell out of favor after the Second World War, but interest in her was revived by the post modern feminist of the 1970s, and today her reputation is at its brightest.

Better known as Virginia Woolfe, Adeline Stephen was an English writer of essays, short stories and novels. She is considered one of the most important literary figures of the 20th century most known for her novels “To the Lighthouse”, “Mrs. Dalloway” and “Orlando”. Heavily influenced by Marcel Proust and James Joyce, To the Lighthouse employs stream-of-consciousness narrations and meandering paragraphs to depict the make-up of a family (the Ramsays). It’s more about thoughts and perceptions within the internal landscapes of her characters rather than black-and-white reality. This novel is considered one of the greastet modernist works of fiction in the English language. Nicole Kidman portrayed her in a critical acclaimed 2002 movie, “The Hours”.