girl's name
Belinda
buh-LIN-duh
- Origin English
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 3
- Letters 7
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 78,240
Ireland
#547
1998 births
Belinda is a literary invention with a snake in it — the Germanic element behind it is usually read as a serpent, and Pope's Rape of the Lock made the name fashionable in 1712.
- Belinda is a name of English origin.
- Peaked in 1961, when 3,125 babies were given the name.
- It has been falling over the past decade.
- Today about 1 in 30,140 babies in the United States is given this name.
- First appears in US birth records in 1889.
- 3 syllables, with the stress on syllable 2.
Belinda over time
Births per decade in the United States, 1880s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 5 |
| 1890s | 23 |
| 1900s | 32 |
| 1910s | 83 |
| 1920s | 108 |
| 1930s | 219 |
| 1940s | 2,863 |
| 1950s | 20,970 |
| 1960s | 23,003 |
| 1970s | 12,515 |
| 1980s | 5,377 |
| 1990s | 2,379 |
| 2000s | 2,651 |
| 2010s | 2,127 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 755 |
What Belinda means
Belinda is variously read as a serpent, from a Germanic element, or as beautiful, from the Italian bella. Neither is established and the two disagree entirely.
Where Belinda comes from
Belinda joins an uncertain first element to the -inda ending shared with Melinda, Lucinda and Clarinda, which came from Spanish and Italian romance and means nothing on its own. The first element is usually connected to a Germanic word for a snake, which appears in other old compounds, though an Italian bella, beautiful, is also proposed. Pope gave the name to the heroine of The Rape of the Lock in 1712, which is what put it into English use.
Belinda in use
Belinda peaked in the United States in 1961, when 3,125 babies were registered, and is falling in our data. It charts in three of the seven markets we track — 1,826th in the United States on 110 births, 4625th in France and 6821st in England and Wales — across 78,240 lifetime births. Our records carry it from 1880.
How popular is Belinda?
In 2025, Belinda was given to 110 babies in the United States. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Belinda is used
US figures omit any name given to fewer than five babies in a year, so the rarest names are absent from the source rather than absent from use. Data & sources.
How Belinda is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Bélinda | Bélinda is a rare spelling of Belinda, written with an acute accent and recorded about 395 times, mostly in France. | 395 |
Names that peaked alongside Belinda
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Belinda also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Belinda over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
2 nicknames for Belinda
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.
Belinda 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 Belinda
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Belinda — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Belinda
What does the name Belinda mean?
Contested. A Germanic word for a serpent and the Italian bella, beautiful, are both proposed.
Is Belinda from a poem?
Pope gave it to the heroine of The Rape of the Lock in 1712, which put it into English use.
Is it related to Melinda?
Only in the ending, which came from Spanish and Italian romance and means nothing on its own.
How popular is Belinda?
1826th in the United States, down from a 1961 peak of 3,125 births.
Is Belinda a girl's or a boy's name?
Belinda is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Belinda?
Belinda has 3 syllables.
What are the nicknames for Belinda?
Belinda is usually shortened to Bel and Lindy.
Is Belinda a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Belinda currently ranks #1,826 in the United States. It has been falling over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.