Ornella
- Gender
- Girl
- Say it
- or-NEL-a
- Origin
- Italian
- UK rank, 2025
- #3,409 for girls
- US rank, 2025
- #13,203 for girls
Ornella is a girls' name of Italian origin, meaning “flowering ash tree”. In 2025 it ranked 3,409th for girls in the UK (7 babies) and 13,203rd for girls in the US (6 babies).
What does Ornella mean?
Italian: Italian, from Tuscan ornello 'flowering ash'
“flowering ash tree”
Created by the poet Gabriele D'Annunzio for a character in his 1904 play La figlia di Iorio.
Is Ornella a girl's or a boy's name?
Ornella is a girls' name. In 2025, it was given to 7 girls in the UK and 6 girls in the US. Too few boys were given it to be listed.
How popular is Ornella in the UK?
- Rank in 2025
- 3,409th among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 7 about 1 in 40,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Rising fast up 500% in five years
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 7 girls in the UK were named Ornella, making it the 3,409th most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 5,734th. Its busiest year was 2023, with 11 girls.
Half of all the girls named Ornella in the UK since 1996 were born between 2012 and 2022, the years shaded on the chart below.
Among girls in 2025, it was 3,332nd in England and Wales.
Ornella in the UK, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #3,409 |
| 2024 | 0 | – |
| 2023 | 11 | #2,481 |
| 2022 | 8 | #3,050 |
| 2021 | 3 | #5,824 |
| 2020 | 3 | #5,734 |
| 2019 | 0 | – |
| 2018 | 0 | – |
| 2017 | 0 | – |
| 2016 | 6 | #3,788 |
| 2015 | 7 | #3,433 |
| 2014 | 6 | #3,702 |
| 2013 | 3 | #6,003 |
| 2012 | 3 | #6,108 |
| 2011 | 0 | – |
| 2010 | 0 | – |
| 2009 | 0 | – |
| 2008 | 1 | #7,383 |
| 2007 | 4 | #4,494 |
| 2006 | 3 | #5,259 |
| 2005 | 4 | #4,150 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 0 | – |
| 2002 | 4 | #3,556 |
How popular is Ornella in the US?
- Rank in 2025
- 13,203rd among girls
- Babies in 2025
- 6 about 1 in 270,000 girls
- Five-year trend
- Too rare to call too few babies to tell
- Same name in a class
- under 1% chance among 15 girls
In 2025, 6 girls in the US were named Ornella, making it the 13,203rd most popular name for girls. Five years earlier, in 2020, it was 11,085th. Its busiest year was 2013, with 12 girls. It first appears in the records in 1968.
Half of all the girls named Ornella in the US since 1880 were born between 2001 and 2018, the years shaded on the chart below.
Ornella in the US, year by year
| Year | Girls | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 6 | #13,203 |
| 2024 | 7 | #12,156 |
| 2023 | 8 | #11,164 |
| 2022 | 6 | #13,586 |
| 2021 | 11 | #8,973 |
| 2020 | 8 | #11,085 |
| 2019 | 5 | #15,532 |
| 2018 | 10 | #9,801 |
| 2017 | 10 | #9,939 |
| 2016 | 6 | #14,326 |
| 2015 | 9 | #10,861 |
| 2014 | 7 | #13,063 |
| 2013 | 12 | #9,031 |
| 2012 | 8 | #12,193 |
| 2011 | 7 | #13,339 |
| 2010 | 8 | #12,270 |
| 2009 | 8 | #12,423 |
| 2008 | 0 | – |
| 2007 | 7 | #13,918 |
| 2006 | 8 | #12,415 |
| 2005 | 9 | #10,915 |
| 2004 | 0 | – |
| 2003 | 9 | #10,420 |
| 2002 | 5 | #15,426 |
| 2001 | 10 | #9,344 |
| 2000 | 0 | – |
| 1999 | 6 | #12,681 |
| 1998 | 6 | #12,420 |
| 1997 | 0 | – |
| 1996 | 5 | #13,511 |
| 1995 | 7 | #10,509 |
| 1994 | 6 | #11,771 |
| 1993 | 0 | – |
| 1992 | 5 | #13,308 |
| 1991 | 5 | #13,139 |
| 1990 | 6 | #11,403 |
| 1989 | 0 | – |
| 1988 | 0 | – |
| 1987 | 0 | – |
| 1986 | 0 | – |
| 1985 | 0 | – |
| 1984 | 0 | – |
| 1983 | 0 | – |
| 1982 | 0 | – |
| 1981 | 0 | – |
| 1980 | 0 | – |
| 1979 | 0 | – |
| 1978 | 0 | – |
| 1977 | 0 | – |
| 1976 | 0 | – |
| 1975 | 0 | – |
| 1974 | 0 | – |
| 1973 | 0 | – |
| 1972 | 0 | – |
| 1971 | 0 | – |
| 1970 | 5 | #7,994 |
| 1969 | 0 | – |
| 1968 | 5 | #7,014 |
Nicknames for Ornella
- Nella 45 girls in the UK in 2025
Names like Ornella
Names given in the same years and the same naming tradition, with a similar sound.
Sienna, Orla, Kiara, Aria, Maeva, Bella, Arabella, Luna, Isla, Eliana, Lyra, Isabella
More Italian names
Enzo, Gemma, Ariyah, Milani, Ariya, Armani, Bianca, Siena, Ariah, Capri, Kara, Emiliana, Jemma, Alfredo, Nella, Allegra
Sources
Figures from Baby names in England and Wales (Office for National Statistics), Babies' first names (National Records of Scotland), Baby names (Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency) and Popular Baby Names (US Social Security Administration). Nameling last updated them on 20 October 2026. How the figures are worked out, and the data to download.
To cite this page: Nameling, “Ornella: name meaning, origin and popularity”, https://www.nameling.co.uk/names/ornella, updated 20 October 2026.