Amelia: meaning and UK use

What does Amelia mean?

Amelia belongs to the Amalia name family. Similar-looking Emilia has a different origin, so those spellings should not be treated as interchangeable etymologies.

Language or name family covered

Form of Amalia

Meaning or derivation

A variant of Amalia

Our browsing group

girl; classic

Browsing groups describe our editorial shortlist, not rules about who may use a name. A name can cross languages and genders.

Sources for this entry — reviewed 2026-10-07:

• Behind the Name — Amelia

Pronunciation and related forms

uh-MEE-lee-uh (English)

English respellings are approximate; IPA is labelled where used. Follow the pronunciation a person or family chooses, and check it with a speaker of the intended language if that connection matters to you.

Related forms recorded in the reference: Amalia, Emelia, Millie. These may be full forms, diminutives or forms in another language; they are not necessarily pronounced alike or counted together in statistics.

How popular is Amelia?

In 2025, 2,153 baby girls in England and Wales were registered as Amelia, making it the 3rd most popular girls’ name. That is down 1 place on 2024, when it ranked 2nd. It has slipped from 1st in 2015, 2 places in ten years. Its best year in the ONS series was 2015, at 1st. These figures cover England and Wales, not the whole UK.

2025 rank (girls)

3rd

2025 registrations

2,153

Best rank in this series

1st (2015)

Every year from 1996 to 2025

Amelia: rank and number of baby girls by year (ONS)

Year	Rank	Babies
2025	3	2,153
2024	2	2,448
2023	2	2,663
2022	2	2,884
2021	2	3,164
2020	2	3,319
2019	2	3,712
2018	2	3,941
2017	2	4,358
2016	2	4,777
2015	1	5,158
2014	1	5,327
2013	1	5,570
2012	1	7,061
2011	1	5,054
2010	5	4,227
2009	9	3,625
2008	9	3,440
2007	10	3,250
2006	16	2,907
2005	15	2,976
2004	18	2,649
2003	21	2,299
2002	25	1,973
2001	32	1,709
2000	35	1,489
1999	37	1,511
1998	48	1,249
1997	49	1,145
1996	63	929

The sum of published counts in this 1996–2025 girls series is 96,967. This is a lower bound where years are suppressed, not the number of living people with the name. A best rank is the best position within this series; it does not establish an all-time record.

Selected hyphenated registrations starting with Amelia in 2025: Amelia-Rose: 75 (girls); Amelia-Grace: 18 (girls); Amelia-Mae: 12 (girls); Amelia-Rae: 10 (girls). This selection includes up to four matching forms with at least ten registrations, not every compound name.

Sources: ONS release, 2025; girls' dataset; boys' dataset. Our 20 top-ten positions were checked against Table 1 in the 2025 workbooks. The history chart and spelling comparisons come from the separate ONS 1996–2025 workbook, checked 7 October 2026. Spelling variants are separate entries. Scotland and Northern Ireland have separate statistics.

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Names to compare with Amelia

These suggestions share a browsing group and one or more of our style tags or source-context labels. They are taste comparisons, not etymological relatives or a popularity ranking.

• Aishaclassic · Living or alive
• Beatriceclassic · A form of Beatrix
• Charlotteclassic · A feminine form of Charles
• Claraclassic · Clear, bright or famous
• Evelynclassic · From the given name Aveline
• Florenceclassic · Prosperous or flourishing

Read the UK naming guide for the difference between inspiration lists and official statistics, or return to the full name finder.

Registering or changing the name

Once you decide on Amelia, confirm the registration process for your UK nation with the register office. If you later want to change a registered name, the route depends on the circumstances and may require consent from people with parental responsibility.

Start with GOV.UK birth registration or GOV.UK guidance on changing a child’s name. Our registration guide and child name-change guide explain where to find the relevant official process.