Ada
Ada is a girls' name of Turkish origin meaning “island, noble, decoration.” It ranked #195 in the United States in 2025. Ada means 'island' in Turkish, evoking the beautiful islands along Turkey's coastline.
how do you pronounce Ada?
AH-dah
Hear it spoken aloud with our AI pronunciation tool.
what does Ada mean?
The name Ada means “island, noble, decoration.” It comes from the Turkish language tradition.
Ada means 'island' in Turkish, evoking the beautiful islands along Turkey's coastline. It is also a Germanic name meaning 'noble' and a Hebrew name meaning 'adornment.' Ada Lovelace, considered the first computer programmer, gives the name a legacy of innovation. It has become a top Turkish name.
where does the name Ada come from?
Ada has several unrelated sources that converge on one spelling. In Germanic naming it is a short form of names beginning with the element adal or adel-, meaning noble, such as Adelaide and Adeline. In Turkish it is the ordinary word for island. It is also used as a Latinised form of the Hebrew Adah, meaning adornment, and among the Igbo of Nigeria Ada denotes a first daughter.
the history of Ada
Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron, wrote what is generally recognised as the first algorithm intended for a machine in her 1843 notes on Babbage's Analytical Engine, and the Ada programming language was named for her. The Turkish name has a separate history: it was the 35th most popular girls' name in Turkey in 2016, and is unisex there rather than strictly feminine.
how popular is this name?
| Year | Rank |
|---|---|
| 2024 | #195 |
| 2023 | #210 |
Source: SSA National Baby Names Dataset
what are the nicknames and variants of Ada?
Nicknames
Variants around the world
who are famous people named Ada?
- Ada Lovelace (British mathematician, first computer programmer)
- Ada Hegerberg (Norwegian footballer)
what names are similar to Ada?
what names go well with Ada?
Sibling names that share Ada's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.
Last reviewed April 30, 2026 · Curated by HushName editorial
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