Bella

Bella meaning

Bella is an international girl's name of Latin origin (via Italian).

Pretty, charming, pleasant (feminine of Latin bellus)

Also used to mean: beautiful

Bella is the Italian word for beautiful, the feminine of bello. It comes from Latin bellus, which Lewis and Short's dictionary explains as a pet form of bonus, "good", and defines as pretty, charming and pleasant, of people, and fine or delightful, of places and things. As a name, Bella began as a short form of Isabella and Arabella and is now given on its own. Bella Swan, the heroine of Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels, is a well-known modern bearer. Indian families may note that bela (बेला) is also the Hindi name of the jasmine flower; the two words are unrelated.

Source: Lewis & Short, A Latin Dictionary (1879), s.v. bellus · entry bellus · See the entry · checked 25 Oct 2026

References: Lewis & Short, bellus (alatius.com) · Platts, Dictionary of Urdu, Classical Hindi and English (1884), belā, p. 210

Famous namesakes

• Bella Swan, heroine of the Twilight novels

Popularity abroad

• #136 United States, girls 2025 (down 27 from 109 in 2024)
  US Social Security Administration
• #91 England and Wales, girls 2025
  Office for National Statistics

Official birth registrations. India publishes no national name statistics.

Related names

Also meaning beauty

More names of Latin origin

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