Amelia | Name Meaning & Origin

Literary Characters Names, British Names, Germanic Names, English Names, Latin Names, Popular Names

English and German speaking countries

Amelia is actually derived from two names: "Emilia," a Latin name meaning "rival," and "Amalia," a Germanic name meaning "work" or "labor." Henry Fielding popularized this name with his novel "Amelia" in 1751. More recently, the name took center stage in the "Amelia Bedelia" children's book series.

It was also the name of several British princesses in the 18th century - Princess Amelia Sophia was the daughter of George II, and the youngest of George III's fifteen children was named Amelia.

"Amelia" is also the term for a birth defect in which a child is born without limbs, from the Greek prefix "a-" ("none") and the word "melea" ("limbs").

Amelia Earhart was an aviatrix, she was the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She later disappeared on an attempt to circumnavigate the globe.

The name is particularly popular in England and Wales, where it was the 10th most popular name in 2007.