From Georgian princess to flying pioneer: a storybook for Amelia

Where the name Amelia comes from

Amelia grew out of the old Germanic element amal, meaning work or labour, which turned up in medieval names such as Amalberga and Amalasuntha. Over time it came to be read as "industrious" or "striving", and in the later Middle Ages it blended with the Latin Emilia, from the Roman family name Aemilius, often linked to aemulus — eager, rivalling. Amelia sits right where those two roots meet, which is why both meanings are quoted for it.

In England the name arrived with the House of Hanover in the eighteenth century. Princess Amelia, daughter of George II, carried it at court, and later Princess Amelia, the youngest child of George III, became a favourite of her father; her early death in 1810 is often said to have deepened the king's illness. Henry Fielding gave the name to the heroine of his 1751 novel Amelia, a portrait of a patient, loyal wife that helped make it feel English rather than imported.

In the twentieth century the most famous bearer was Amelia Earhart, the American aviator who in 1932 became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic — and who gave the name an adventurous edge it has kept ever since. In England and Wales, Amelia climbed steadily through the 2000s and was the most popular girls' name for five years running in the early 2010s; it has stayed close to the top of the national list since. So a little Amelia today carries a name that is both classic and very much of her own generation: her great-great-grandmother might have known an Amelia from a Victorian novel, while her own classmates know several from the playground. Few names manage to feel royal, literary and adventurous all at once.

Nicknames and ways to say Amelia

• Millie — The best-loved British short form, taken from the middle of the name. Warm, playful and the one most families reach for at home — and the one the story can use in its gentlest moments.
• Amy — Built from the opening sound. A little more grown-up and tidy; popular at school and often chosen by Amelia herself once she gets older.
• Mimi — A toddler's version that tends to start with siblings who cannot yet manage four syllables, and then sticks for years as a pet name.
• Melia — Drops just the first letter and keeps the musical part. Rarer, which is exactly why some families like it.
• Amelia in full — Kept for serious moments, birthday cards and, inevitably, being called in from the garden. In the book it is the name on the cover and in the title.