Alba
About Alba
Bright, lively, and multicultural, Alba has the vintage mellowness of Alma but spirited feel of Ebba, Phoebe, and Pippa too. Derived from multiple different sources, a recent year saw it appear as a Top 10 name in France and Sweden, and a Top 100 choice in Belgium, England and Wales, Italy. Spain, Scotland, and Switzerland, though it has yet to reappear in the US charts
af meaning "elf", in turn making it a relative of Elva, Alfred, and Albert. Additionally, it is the Spanish, Italian, and Catalan word for "dawn", associating it with new beginning, and was is to refer to Scotland in Scottish Gaelic.
Notably appearing in the novel, The Time Traveler's Wife by the character Alba DeTamble, it is also borne by actress Jessica Alba as a surname.
As of October 2026, Alba ranked #1261 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #740 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #360.
Editor's take: The name Alba is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "white, light; elf; dawn".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,492 | 149 | 83.4 |
| 2015 | #1,454 | 158 | 88.5 |
| 2016 | #1,712 | 124 | 70 |
| 2017 | #1,495 | 148 | 85.7 |
| 2018 | #1,614 | 132 | 77.6 |
| 2019 | #1,392 | 161 | 95.9 |
| 2020 | #1,213 | 188 | 116.3 |
| 2021 | #1,221 | 193 | 117.6 |
| 2022 | #1,224 | 197 | 120.1 |
| 2023 | #1,238 | 188 | 117.2 |
| 2024 | #1,171 | 204 | 125.9 |
| 2025 | #1,261 | 177 | 110.1 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Alba.
Famous Albas
- Alba Gaïa Kraghede Bellugi
French actress
- Alba Milana
Italian distance runner
- (Alba) Giselle Blondet (Gomez)
Puerto Rican actress and TV host
- Alba Joy Firebrace
daughter of Nirrimi Hakanson (blogger, photographer)
- Alba Violet Bale
daughter of Welsh soccer player Gareth Bale
- Jessica Alba
American actress
- Alba Flores
Spanish actress
- Alba Baptista
Portuguese actress
Alba in pop culture
- Alba Gloriana Villanueva
character on TV's "Jane the Virgin"
- Alba DeTamble
daughter of Henry and Clare DeTamble in "The Time Traveler's Wife"
- Alba Fernandez
main character on Netflix Original series "Las Chicas del Cable" ("Cable Girls")
- Alba Maldonado
character on FOX sitcom "The Mick"
- Alba is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland
pronounced Alabuh (the b is very short and can sometimes sound like a p)
- Alba
the scandalous main femme in a series by Delacorta
- Alba
British electronics brand
Variations & nicknames
- AlbaneFrench