Ida

EYE-dah

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The name Ida means “hardworking; prosperous; labor.” It comes from the German language tradition.

From the Old Norse and Germanic id, meaning work or labor. It was a fashionable Victorian name, and Mount Ida in Crete was sacred in Greek mythology. The name is staging a quiet revival as part of the old-soul name trend.

Wiktionary derives Ida chiefly as a short form of obsolete Germanic given names beginning with īd, meaning work, used for both sexes in medieval England; a further Wiktionary entry on early female saints adds that Ida- and Idu- were used as a gem compound element, with the meaning debated — possibly cognate with the Old Norse word for work, or related to the goddess Iðunn. A separate Wiktionary entry describes an unrelated surname Ida, apparently from a term for a rice paddy by a well; that is a different name sharing the spelling and is set aside here.

Wiktionary says Ida was revived in the 19th century, partly through mistaken association with the Greek-sounding Mount Ida of classical mythology, and was also used as a diminutive of Adelaide; Wikipedia adds that Ida remains popular in Scandinavian countries, where it is pronounced Ee-da.

• Ida B. Wells (journalist and activist)
• Ida Lupino (actress)
• Ida Tarbell (journalist)

Sibling names that share Ida's rhythm and register without echoing it too closely.