Adelaide
/ˈæd.ə.leɪd/noun
A feminine given name and a city in Australia, originally from a Germanic royal name.
Did you know?Adelaide comes from the same ancient Germanic name element as the word *noble*, and it was carried into English through a sainted queen whose prestige helped keep the name alive for centuries.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*aþalaz
“noble, of noble birth”
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*haiduz
“kind, sort, type”
Old High German
OHG
Adalheidis
“a female personal name meaning noble kind”
Old French
OF
Adélaïde
“female given name, especially among French nobility”
Middle English
English
Adelheid / Adelaide
“a borrowed feminine name used in aristocratic and later general use”
Modern English
English
Adelaide
“a feminine given name and a place name”