| Belinda | Viola | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Beautiful (disputed) | Violet |
| Origin | italian | Italian |
| Gender | Girl | Girl |
| Pronunciation | buh-LIN-duh | vee-OH-lah |
| Syllables | 3 | 3 |
| First appeared | 0 | 1880 |
| Peak year | 1961 (3,120) | 1918 (4,331) |
| In 2025 | 0 | 247 |
| Trend | Vintage | Rising |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Belinda | Viola |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 755 | 1,357 |
| 2010s | 2,127 | 1,871 |
| 2000s | 2,651 | 734 |
| 1990s | 2,373 | 488 |
| 1980s | 5,348 | 764 |
| 1970s | 12,488 | 1,058 |
| 1960s | 22,944 | 2,732 |
| 1950s | 20,941 | 5,386 |
| 1940s | 2,863 | 8,269 |
| 1930s | 219 | 14,256 |
| 1920s | 108 | 33,251 |
| 1910s | 83 | 33,076 |
| 1900s | 32 | 16,559 |
| 1890s | 23 | 9,386 |
| 1880s | 5 | 3,806 |
HEDGE: origin uncertain. Commonly explained as coined from Italian bella 'beautiful' plus a suffix, which is why it is read as 'beautiful'. An alternative traces it to Old High German Betlinde, with a second element lind 'soft/tender' or possibly 'serpent/linden', in which case 'beautiful' would be folk-etymology.
Viola is the Italian and Latin word for the violet flower.
Viola is more popular than Belinda today: about 247 US babies were given the name Viola in 2025, compared with 0 named Belinda.
Belinda means Beautiful (disputed) (italian origin), while Viola means Violet (Italian origin).
In US records, Belinda first appears in 0 and Viola in 1880, so Belinda has the longer recorded history.