girl's name
Alba
AL-ba
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 4
- Popularity Top 100 (E&W)
- Births on record 29,897
France
#5
2025 births
Alba is a girl's name of Latin origin meaning "dawn" or "white." In Italian, Spanish and Catalan it means daybreak; in Scottish Gaelic, Alba is the name of Scotland itself — two unrelated words at one spelling.
- Alba is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in France in 2022, when 3,280 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,105 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1906.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Alba over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. Alba is more popular in England and Wales — see the country table below. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 10 |
| 1910s | 25 |
| 1920s | 100 |
| 1930s | 80 |
| 1940s | 50 |
| 1950s | 60 |
| 1960s | 55 |
| 1970s | 15 |
| 1980s | 70 |
| 1990s | 130 |
| 2000s | 285 |
| 2010s | 1,290 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 14,880 |
What Alba means
Alba means dawn in the Romance languages and white in Latin, the two senses connected by the pale light of daybreak. In Gaelic it is instead the proper name of Scotland and means nothing else.
Where Alba comes from
The Romance Alba descends from the Latin albus, white, which gave alba for the whitening of the sky at dawn — the same root behind albino and album, a blank white tablet. The Gaelic Alba is entirely separate: it is the Scottish Gaelic name for Scotland, from a Celtic word once applied to the whole island of Britain, and it survives in Albion. Because Scotland's Gaelic name is a feminine noun, Alba has been taken up as a given name in Scotland with a patriotic rather than a descriptive sense.
Alba in use
Our data shows Alba peaking in 2022 and still rising, at 95 in England and Wales against 1,262 in the United States. It first appears in our records in 1906. It is the only name we have written up whose two origins are a common noun in one language and a country's own name in another.
How popular is Alba?
In 2025, Alba was given to 477 babies in England and Wales, ranking #95 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Where Alba is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
Names that peaked alongside Alba
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Alba also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Alba over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
1 nickname for Alba
Each one is a name in its own right — the figure underneath is how it is doing today, so you can see which short forms are rising and which have faded.
Alba in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Alba
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Alba — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Alba
What does the name Alba mean?
"Dawn" in Italian, Spanish and Catalan, from the Latin albus, white. In Scottish Gaelic, Alba is the name of Scotland.
Is Alba a Scottish name?
Alba is Scotland's Gaelic name, so its Scottish use is patriotic. The Romance name meaning dawn is unrelated.
How do you pronounce Alba?
AL-ba in English and Spanish use. Scottish Gaelic says roughly AL-a-pa.
How popular is the name Alba?
In 2025, Alba was given to 477 babies in England and Wales, ranking #95 that year. It is one of the most popular names in England and Wales.
Is Alba a girl's or a boy's name?
Alba is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Alba?
Alba has 2 syllables.
When was Alba most popular?
Alba peaked in 2022, when 3,280 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
What are the nicknames for Alba?
Alba is usually shortened to Albi.
Is Alba a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Alba currently ranks #5 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.