| Ada | Amara | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | First daughter | grace |
| Origin | igbo | igbo |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | AH-dah | uh-MAR-uh |
| Syllables | 2 | 3 |
| First appeared | 1880 | 1961 |
| Peak year | 1918 (1,943) | 2025 (2,630) |
| In 2025 | 1,401 | 2,630 |
| Trend | Rising | Near its peak |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Ada | Amara |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 9,495 | 13,101 |
| 2010s | 9,037 | 9,418 |
| 2000s | 3,395 | 4,294 |
| 1990s | 1,600 | 1,402 |
| 1980s | 1,606 | 523 |
| 1970s | 1,924 | 214 |
| 1960s | 2,874 | 30 |
| 1950s | 4,306 | 0 |
| 1940s | 5,884 | 0 |
| 1930s | 8,492 | 0 |
| 1920s | 15,135 | 0 |
| 1910s | 15,234 | 0 |
| 1900s | 9,121 | 0 |
| 1890s | 10,379 | 0 |
| 1880s | 8,423 | 0 |
Igbo, 'first-born daughter.' Ada is a title-like name marking the eldest daughter and heads many compounds, e.g. Adaeze ('princess, king's daughter') and Adaobi ('daughter of the household').
In Igbo (Nigeria) 'amara' means 'grace', a short form of names like Amarachi ('God's grace'). The same form appears elsewhere with other senses (Sanskrit 'amara', immortal; a poetic Latin/Italian echo of 'love'), but the best-attested meaning is the Igbo 'grace'.
Amara is more popular than Ada today: about 2,630 US babies were given the name Amara in 2025, compared with 1,401 named Ada.
Ada means First daughter (igbo origin), while Amara means grace (igbo origin).
In US records, Ada first appears in 1880 and Amara in 1961, so Ada has the longer recorded history.