Annabella

Annabella is a combination of Anna, from the Hebrew Hannah meaning grace or favour, and Bella, the Italian and Latin word for beautiful. The name has been used in Scotland and England since the medieval period, where it appeared in aristocratic and royal families. It can also be understood as an elaboration of Annabel, itself a medieval Scottish form with the same combined meaning.

Annabella has a notably aristocratic and literary heritage in Britain, appearing in the records of Scottish and English noble families from the medieval period onwards. In Scotland, the name was used among the higher nobility, and Annabella Drummond was Queen of Scotland as the wife of Robert III in the late fourteenth century, giving the name genuine royal provenance. In English literature, the name has appeared in poetry and fiction as a byword for refined, classical femininity. The poet Lord Byron's wife was born Annabella Milbanke, and her marriage to and separation from Byron became one of the most discussed relationships in the Romantic period, lending the name a complex, literary glamour. In the twentieth century, the Italian actress Annabella brought the name to wider attention in British and American cinema during the 1930s and 1940s. Today, Annabella occupies a slightly more formal, antique space than the more popular Annabelle, and it appeals to parents who prefer the Italian-inflected spelling and a name with deep historical roots in British aristocratic culture.