This post was originally published on August 17, 2008. It was substantially revised and re-posted on July 6, 2015. Thanks to Aurelia for suggesting her name for a rerun!
Part-Audrey and Aubrey, part-Amelia and Sophia, no wonder this golden name is making a comeback.
Thanks to Kayt for suggesting our Baby Name of the Day: Aurelia.
Aurelia: Comeback Kid
Back in 2008, I called Aurelia “one of those throwback names that is primed for a revival.”
The name regularly appeared in the US Top 1000 through the 1950s, but then disappeared – and stayed gone for more than five decades.
With names like Sophia and Aubrey so popular, it was only a matter of time before Aurelia made a comeback. In 2012, the name re-entered the rankings at #994. Aurelia charted at #832 in 2014. I think it’s safe to call Aurelia a name on the upswing!
Aurelia: Ancient Origins
This name has truly ancient roots – older than Audrey or Sophia.
The Aurelii were an ancient Roman family. Julius Ceasar’s mom was an Aurelii – which means that she was known as Aurelia.
If you know your periodic table of the elements, you’ll remember that AU is gold.
In Latin, the precious metal is aurum, and aureus means golden. The family name and given name come from the same roots.
Aurelia: Saint
There have been saints named Aurelius, Aurelian, Aurea, and yes, Aurelia.
Aurelia of Strasbourg was a saint. Catholic sources make her a princess who became a hermit in the eleventh century, though historical details about her life are thin. A church named for her still stands in Strasbourg, though it has been a Lutheran church for centuries, and during the Reformation, the saint’s relics were removed.
Doubtless the saint is the reason the name can found in so many European languages.
Aurelia: Variations
Maybe because Aurelia is used in so many languages, there’s no clear consensus on pronunciation. Despite being relatively rare in English, the name is heard in Portugal and Poland, in Romania and Rome.
In the US, you might hear aw REEL ee ah, aw REL ee ah, or aw REL yah. Others pronounce the name with an ah sound – ah REEL ee ah. And so on.
Aurélie is the French version. The emphasis is usually on the third syllable – oh rel LEE.
The Spanish Oralia had a good run in the US, charting in the Top 1000 between 1929 and 1957. Mexican opera singer Oralia Dominguez – that’s her to the left – was at the height of her career in the 1950s, but she was probably part of the trend, not the reason for it. Oralia is pronounced with a ‘ray’ sound: oh RAY lee ah.
You might have heard of:
- Poet Sylvia Plath’s Austrian-born mother and grandmother were both Aurelias.
- Almost a year before Rosa Parks famously refused to vacate her seat, Aurelia Browder did the same thing. She became a life-long civil rights activist.
- In 2003’s romantic comedy, Colin Firth falls for a Portuguese Aurelia. She speaks no English, and he speaks no Portuguese, but it’s the movies, so it all works out.
- Children’s series The Pony-Mad Princess features a Princess Ellie – but it turns out that Ellie is short for Aurelia.
Aurelia: On Trend
American parents love the letter A, we’re wild about -ia ending names for girls and especially -lia ending names.
If you’re looking for an alternative to chart-toppers like Olivia or Ariana, Aurelia hits many of the same notes.
What do you think of Aurelia? Do you think it’s an on-trend name that would wear well, or is this one not quite ready for a comeback?
My husband and I love the movie Love Actually, and he said if he ever had a baby girl, Aurelia would be her name. My 1st born was a girl and Aurelia is what we named her. It’s also in the movie Fools Gold. We are from Portugal and we pronounce it “aw-ray-lee-uh” (my husband’s name is a version of Ray ) it’s the most beautiful name! And she is sooo sweet, she really does have a golden heart!
Our second daughter’s name is Aurelia. We pronounce her name ‘aw-reh-lee-a,’ like the author notes. We decided on the nickname Ellie before she born, and it wasn’t until she was about 4 months old that we heard about the Pony-Mad Princess series. I thought it was so neat someone else had decided to use the nickname Ellie for Aurelia! It certainly isn’t a common first name, but we thought it fit will with our older daughter’s name (Evangeline).
There’s an Aurelia in my daughter’s nursery; she pronounces is \ow-RAY-lee-@\. (I believe the family is French, but ‘m not sure).
in my top faves but husband vetoed as to him it sounds like “I’ll rail ya”. Booo 🙁
I seem to be a nick namer… My biggest problem with Aurelia is it’s lack of an easy nick name solution. It was on the list until I realized that the only solution I could think of was “Goldie” which I couldn’t make work outside of fiction.
Oh, but Aurelia called Goldie would be fabulous! Though I agree, it might be hard to make it stick. I also love the idea of Victoria called Queenie … but again, maybe better in theory than in real life!
My daughter’s name is Aurelia and my mother calls her Auree. Can also do Lia but we prefer the whole name, it’s so beautiful.
I read a very in depth post about aurelia on “Once Upon a Time Baby Names site” and was smitten from there on. On that same site, I came across another fn and pared it with aurelia in the middle, then added my first name in the second slot after aurelia. I toldme husband and he said, I love it. So on top of list above Edwina, is Mazarine Aurelia Winter. The translation in meaning is Blue, Gold, Winter, but I picture a golden sun, blue skies, and white snow capped mountains reflecting light like diamonds. The name itself sounds lush, evocative, and gorgeous, to look past Blue, Gold, Winter.
I agree, with the others above, aurelia does sound frilly and fusty.
orabel is another to mention in the ora sounds and another rarity.
I’m thinking of naming my daughter Aurelia Scholze. It doesn’t sound princessy to me at all, more like a young female dumbledore, or steampunk explorer. Her father is from France and we live in Montreal, Quebec they French say o-rel-ia even when spelled with the accent (Aurélia). We’d called her Aurélie. I love Aurélie because it sounds like a song, Aurélia was a longer form I chose so that she could have a less cutsey name as she aged. Aurélia Scholze sounds like an esteemed inventor or classical musician.
All the possible nicknames I’ve come up with are:
Ariel, Aurielle, Arial, , Arella, Arla, Orla, Aurelle, Auralei,
Aurea, Aurore,
Rae, Relie/Raliegh, Lee, Aura, Aurl, Aulie,
Arlie/Orly,
Ori/Aurie, Ari,
Elle, Ellie, Liea (leah or laia), Lilie/Lilly
Downside to Aurélie is that my English daily pronounces it as ORALLY -medication to be taken orally, or you know; oral. I’m a bit concerned that she’ll get BJ jokes in high school if we stay in Canada. Also Aurélia reminds people of aureolas, which is fine, as I have no qualm with nipples.
Absolutly love the name Aurelia.. we might go with the name Aurelia Rose but not fo sure
Any suggestions??
Aurelia is lovely – is there a reason for choosing Rose, or are you just looking for something that sounds right in the middle spot? Rose is a great name, but if there’s no special meaning attached, I might use something less expected:
Aurelia Mary
Aurelia Maren
Aurelia Lauren
Aurelia Haven
Aurelia June
Aurelia Thais
Aurelia Justine
Aurelia Cady
Aurelia Bay
But some of it depends on your last name, too …
thanks! I know.. how tough is it! Somehow, I don’t think I’ll be able to convince DH to let me have 2 more girls though 🙂 hahah
Funny, I’m not wild about Aurelia, but Aurelie seems truly novel. And she goes well with Matilda, Oliver and Iris, too! But I do love Beatrix, too – tough call!
MM.. Aurelia / Aurelie is tied first place as my girls name for our next bub (tied with Beatrix). I absolutely adore her, and have for years! I love the richness of Aurelia, but I feel Aurelie suits Matilda, Oliver & Iris a little better.
It may be my Australian accent, as it seems I’m in the minority when compared with the the lovelies online, but I pronounce her aw-REE-lee-ah / au -reh-LEE
Aurelia makes me think of Love Actually too! To me, her over-the-top, ornate Spanish feel is both her greatest strenth and greatest weakness. I love the idea of Aurelia but would I get fed up with her sound in practice? Probably.
I might know that Aurelia has ancient, well heeled associations but countless others might interpret this name as a fussy, frilly, princessy choice. What’s more, I feel strongly that a name should give you a certain amount of breathing space. While some days are frilly, feminine days when I would wholeheartedly embrace the idea of a names like Aurelia; other days are classic stripped-bare days when Aurelia would seem unnecesarily fussy.
I like it, almost love it. Strongly considered for my daughter born in “the year of the golden boar”, but in the end, I just couldn’t pull the trigger.
It makes me think of “Love Actually”. I like it, but won’t use it. 😀
I love Aurelia! I agree with coolteamblt, it’s one of those princessy-sounding names that doesn’t go too far overboard. It’s pretty with a touch of class. It’s an awesome name 🙂
I love it. It’s more common in the Spanish speaking community here in Colorado, so it’s been vetoed by the husband for being Spanish where neither of us are. It might be a bit close to my sister’s name, Amelia. However, I just adore it! It’s less Disney princess feeling than Aurora (plus, Aurora is a low income city near us, generally called ‘Saudi Aurora’, so that’s out for a whole other reason), and it has the princessy feel of Arianna and friends while being a real, strong name.
Aurelia’s not for me. It’s too much . . . all those vowels shoved in there and the possible four syllable pronunciation strike me as over the top. I think the pronunciation and spelling would be endlessly botched in the States.
Auri as a nickname??? Looks cute, but not sure how to pronounce it.
I love this name!!
So classic and sophisticated, i love how it is not popular.
I pronounce it: aw Rel ee ah.
🙂
I love Aurelia! She figures in my middle name slot, generally because of her lack of nicknames. aw REL ee ah or aw REL yah are the standard pronunciations for me. The first is how I say it, the second is how my Polish/Russian family says it.
I think she’s completely lovely and warm. I like that in a name. I also like the fact that she’s unranked (at least for now).
Aurelia’s a real winner for me! Huzzah!