| Amara | Ada | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | grace | First daughter |
| Origin | igbo | igbo |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | uh-MAR-uh | AH-dah |
| Syllables | 3 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1961 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 2025 (2,630) | 1918 (1,943) |
| In 2025 | 2,630 | 1,401 |
| Trend | Near its peak | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Amara | Ada |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 13,101 | 9,495 |
| 2010s | 9,418 | 9,037 |
| 2000s | 4,294 | 3,395 |
| 1990s | 1,402 | 1,600 |
| 1980s | 523 | 1,606 |
| 1970s | 214 | 1,924 |
| 1960s | 30 | 2,874 |
| 1950s | 0 | 4,306 |
| 1940s | 0 | 5,884 |
| 1930s | 0 | 8,492 |
| 1920s | 0 | 15,135 |
| 1910s | 0 | 15,234 |
| 1900s | 0 | 9,121 |
| 1890s | 0 | 10,379 |
| 1880s | 0 | 8,423 |
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'.
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').
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.
Amara means grace (igbo origin), while Ada means First daughter (igbo origin).
In US records, Amara first appears in 1961 and Ada in 1880, so Ada has the longer recorded history.