Cornelia
About Cornelia
In ancient Rome, Cornelia was considered the paragon of womanly virtue, making it a handsome name with an excellent pedigree. It's rare today, so if you want a name no one else is using, somewhat reminiscent of Amelia and the Shakespearean Cordelia, Cornelia should be on your list. Cornelia's short forms might include Cora, Nelia or Nell--anything but Corny.
The name of the mother of famous second century Roman reformers, Cornelia emerged in England in the seventeenth century, probably brought in by Dutch immigrants. The painter Jan Vermeer had a daughter named Cornelia.
Cornelia has not made a mark on the U.S. popularity list since 1965--so she's more than due for reconsideration. In the meantime, it's been associated with contemporary socialite Cornelia Guest, giving the name an elite image.
As of October 2026, Cornelia ranked #3138 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #147 in 1880, Nameberry popularity #593.
Editor's take: The name Cornelia is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "horn".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | — | 0 | 0 |
| 2015 | #4,883 | 28 | 15.7 |
| 2016 | #4,104 | 36 | 20.3 |
| 2017 | #4,413 | 32 | 18.5 |
| 2018 | #4,374 | 32 | 18.8 |
| 2019 | #3,563 | 43 | 25.6 |
| 2020 | #4,025 | 35 | 21.7 |
| 2021 | #3,560 | 43 | 26.2 |
| 2022 | #3,983 | 37 | 22.6 |
| 2023 | #3,103 | 53 | 33 |
| 2024 | #3,824 | 39 | 24.1 |
| 2025 | #3,138 | 51 | 31.7 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Cornelia.
Famous Cornelias
- Cornelia Maria Funke
German novelist
- Cornelia Otis Skinner
American author and actress
- Cornelia "Corrie" ten Boom
Dutchwoman who helped Jews escape the Holocaust
- Cornelia Vanderbilt
daughter of American millionaire George Vanderbilt
- Cornelia Burki
Swiss long,distance runner
- Cornelia Dumler
German volleyball player
- Cornelia Dahlgren
Swedish singer/songwriter
- Cornelia Frances
English,Australian actress
- Cornelia Hesse
Honegger, author of Heteroptera and poet naturalist
Cornelia in pop culture
- Cornelia Hale
the Guardian of Earth in "W.I.T.C.H.," a comic book series and animated series
- Cornelia Stanton Edwards (née Pitt)
the aunt of Samantha Parkington and wife of Gardner Edwards in the American Girl Doll series
- FV Cornelia Marie
a commercial crab fishing boat formerly featured on the Discovery Channel series Deadliest Catch
- Cornelia Bryant
in the "Anne of Green Gables" series
- Cornelia li Britannia
character in the anime "Code Geass"
- Cornelia Brown
main character in "Love Walked In" and "Belong to Me"
- Cornelia Goth (nee Crumplebottom)
character in "The Sims" (1,3) video/computer games
- Cornelia Prince Medal
character mentioned in "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory"
- Cornelia
character from the video game "Final Fantasy XI"
- Blair Cornelia Waldorf
a main character on "Gossip Girl"
- Cornelia Street
a street in New York and a title of Taylor Swift's song
Variations & nicknames
- NeleGerman
- KornelisSwedish
- NeliaSpanish
- KorneliaCzech
- MeliaSpanish
- CornelieFrench
More nicknames
- Corny
- Nell
- Nella
- Nelia