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Bella

Heart
Diminutive of Isabella, Italian
"beautiful"

Bella Origin and Meaning

The name Bella is a girl's name of Italian origin meaning "beautiful".

Bella derived as a diminutive of Isabella and other names with the suffix -bella. While Isabella is a variation of Elizabeth and thus means "God is my oath," Bella is considered to mean "beautiful." This is because Bella is related to the word for "beautiful" in languages including Spanish, Italian, Latin, Portuguese, and Greek, as well as the name Belle, which means "beautiful" in French.

Everything ella, from Ella to Bella to Arabella, is red hot right now. Bella is one of the most, well, beautiful girl names starting with B. It carried a hint of a nice Old World grandmotherly veneer, until it became attached to Twilight's Bella Swan.

If you're thinking of naming your daughter Bella, be aware that there are a lot of little girls whose proper names are Isabella, Arabella etc. who are called Bella.

In pre-Twilight literature, Bella Wilfer is the central character in Charles Dickens's Our Mutual Friend.

Mark Ruffalo, Billy Bob Thornton, David Boreanaz and Eddie Murphy are all dads to Bellas. A strong feminist namesake is Bella Abzug. One current Bella is child star turned pop star Bella Thorne, born Annabella.

Bella was in use as far back as the thirteenth century, then disappeared until the eighteenth when it became fashionable.

Today, Bella is among the most popular dog names.

# 85 in the US

Bella Rank in US Top 1000

# 399 on Nameberry

Bella Rank in Nameberry Top 1000

Bella Popularity

20 Names Similar to Bella

These 20 names were selected by our users that were looking for other names like Bella.

Famous People Named Bella

  • Bella Milagrothe daughter of Josiah & Lauren Duggar, from TLC's "Counting On"
  • Bella AbzugU.S. Congresswoman from New York
  • Bella FreudEnglish fashion designer
  • Bella PilarAmerican illustrator
  • Isabella Khair "Bella" HadidAmerican model
  • Annabella Avery "Bella" ThorneAmerican actress
  • Arwen Arabella "Bella" HardyEnglish folk singer
  • Isabella "Bella" HeathcoteAustralian actress
  • Bella Beckerbirth name of Belle Baker, American singer and actress
  • Bella LewitzkyAmerican choreographer
  • Bella Rosenfeld ChagallBelarusian novelist; wife of painter Marc Chagall
  • Bella Cohen SpewackAmerican playwright and screenwriter
  • Isabella "Bella" Logginsdaughter of singer Kenny Loggins
  • Isabella Jane "Bella" Cruisedaughter of actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman
  • Isabella "Bella" Giannullidaughter of actress Lori Loughlin and designer Mossimo Giannulli
  • Isabella 'Bella' Wallingtondaughter of actress Tina Hobley and Steve Wallington
  • Bella Ivory Aziza Wayansdaughter of actors Keenen Ivory and Daphne Wayans
  • Bella Zahra Murphydaughter of actor Eddie Murphy
  • Bella Thorntondaughter of actor Billy Bob Thornton and Connie Angland
  • Bella Noche Ruffalo (b. 2005)daughter of actor Mark Ruffalo
  • Bella Blu Ray (b. 2008)daughter of bodybuilder Shawn Ray
  • Bella Vita Bardot Boreanaz (b. 2009)daughter of actor David Boreanaz
  • Bella Rose Lambert (b. 2013)daughter of footballer Rickie Lambert
  • Bella Monroe James (b. 2012)daughter of rapper Juelz Santana and model Kimbella
  • Bella Tatum Poor (b. 2013)daughter of skater Naomi Nari Nam and Tyler Poor
  • Bella Meskhi (b. 2015)daughter of actors Ekaterina Klimova and Gela Meskhi
  • Bella Raine Jeter (b. 2017)daughter of baseball player Derek Jeter
  • Luca Bella Facinellidaughter of actors Jennie Garth and Peter Facinelli
  • Kaiya Bella Luna Stormare (b. 2009)daughter of actor Peter Stormare
  • Cai Bella Bridges (b. 2011)daughter of rapper Ludacris

Bella in Pop Culture

  • Isabella Marie "Bella" Swanmain character in the Twilight Saga
  • Bellatrix "Bella" Lestrangecharacter in the Harry Potter series
  • Bella Monroecharacter in the video game Siren: Blood Curse
  • Bellacharacter in play "Lost in Yonkers" by Neil Simon
  • Bellacharacter on TV's "Young Americans"
  • Isabella "Bella" Hartleymermaid on TV series "H2O: Just Add Water"
  • Bella Goth (nee Bachelor)character in "The Sims" (1,4) video/computer games
  • Isabella Jane "Bella" Coopercharacter on New Zealand soap "Shortland Street"
  • Bella of Brockhallbadger character in the Redwall series
  • Bella Dawsonmain character on TV's "Bella and the Bulldogs"
  • Bella Sharpecharacter on British soap "Hollyoaks"
  • Bella Moriarty Spellgrovecharacter in "Sherlock Holmes: The Musical"
  • Bellaminor character in the Game of Thrones series
  • Bella Rose Kingcharacter on Australian soap "Home and Away"
  • Bellacharacter in the Warriors series
  • Bella Crossleycharacter on TV's "Evermoor"
  • Bellacharacter in Erin Hunter's "Survivors" book series
  • Bella Donna Boudreauxcharacter in Marvel's X,Men comics