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Alba

#1,261 in 2025Girls' name

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Alba has been given to 7,579 babies in the U.S. since 1880. In 2025 it ranked #1,261 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2024, with 205 recorded.

Babies named Alba, 2025

1 in 18,700

Alba over time, 1880–2025

GirlsBoys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Alba: meaning, origin, and history

Multiple documented origins; meaning depends on tradition

Spanish

What Alba means

Alba has more than one naming route in the cited origin entries: distinct naming traditions.

The naming story behind Alba

A separate documented entry treats Alba as a feminine form of Albus. That is a personal-name relationship, which differs from translating the letters of the modern spelling into one universal English word. The linked origin entry identifies the context of this relationship.

One of the source’s documented entries for Alba records a meaning of elf.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Spanish Alba, ultimately from the same origin as Etymology 1 and 2.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Alba (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Alba is used in English, Albanian and Spanish. Its origins include Spanish.

Alba comes through Spanish Alba.

Alba is a modern formation.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Alba is pronounced /ˈɑlbə/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 7,471 girls were recorded with the name Alba between 1880 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 205 in 2024; its best national rank was #740 in 1880.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #1,214 in 2020 to #1,261 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #1,454 in 2015 to #1,261 in 2025.

In the United States, 108 boys were recorded with the name Alba between 1892 and 1981. Its highest annual count was 9 in 1913; its best national rank was #860 in 1892.

How common is Alba?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 18,700
177 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 9,080
0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#1,261
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
12,984 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Alba sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 5003%

Put another way: gather 12,984 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Alba. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Albas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Alba was born before 1993 — so the typical Alba is around 32 today.

Median birth year
1993
About 32 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
18.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
42.5%
Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950
5,887
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 18.6% of all recorded uses (1,390).

Is Alba rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−91
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
−47
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
+193
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.12×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
86.3%
Peak was 2024 (205)
Years since peak
1
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
14.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#740
1880

Spellings of Alba

Alba is not the most common spelling — Anna is, with 26.0% against Alba's 0.21%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Alba is used

Across 2016–2025, Alba was most concentrated in New York — about 1 in 5,882 girls, against 1 in 9,710 across all states with data. It was least common in Ohio (1 in 50,000).

217 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New York1 in 5,882
  2. 2California1 in 6,667
  3. 3Florida1 in 7,692
  4. 4Texas1 in 7,692
  5. 5New Jersey1 in 8,333
  6. 6Colorado1 in 10,000
  7. 7Massachusetts1 in 10,000
  8. 8Utah1 in 10,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Alba around the world

Where Alba ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1996–2025
    #95
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2003–2025
    #62
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    2014–2025
    #177
    in 2025
  • Ireland
    2005–2025
    #213
    in 2025
  • France
    1906–2025
    #5
    in 2025
  • Norway
    1880–2025
    #105
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1993–2024
    #619
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    1953–2013
    #818
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Norway, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, SSB, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Notable people named Alba

People whose public names include Alba, backed by Wikidata given-name records and ordered by linked Wikimedia pages. The name may be a middle name.

People data from Wikidata (CC0). Fame is measured, not judged — the order reflects how widely each person is documented, not the U.S. birth records popularity this page is otherwise about.

Alba in other languages

Cross-language forms and variants of Alba. Linked forms have their own page here.

ElbaAlbanaAlbina

Variant forms from Wikidata (CC0). Most are used mainly outside the United States; U.S. birth records statistics cover US usage only.

Alba by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#1,261
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 47
Best rank ever
#740
1880
Peak year
2024
205 that year
First recorded
1880
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
7,471
Count in 2025
177

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
—
Best rank ever
#860
1892
Peak year
1913
9 that year
First recorded
1892
Last recorded
1981
All-time count
108
Count in 2025
Under 5

Names similar to Alba

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AlbinaElbaMelbaAlbertAlbanyRosalbaAlbertaAlberthaAlbieShelbaAlbenaAlbertineAlbertoAlbertinaWilbaAlbirtaAlbanaAlbyAlbirdaAlbertiaAlbreeAlbeeAlbirthaAlbani

Names with a curve like Alba

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Alba, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

LinaInesAmaliaLuisaWesleyEvelinaLeanaCatarinaNellyEchoPerryLucie

Sibling names for Alba

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Alba

Top names of 2024, Alba's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 1880Girls' names starting with AShort Girl NamesSoft Girl Names