Fun Facts About the Name Belladonna
- 463 babies named Belladonna: U.S. records list 463 babies given the name Belladonna from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Belladonna Mean?
Belladonna is an Italian compound meaning "beautiful lady." It is made of bella, "beautiful," and donna, "lady, woman." Bella is the feminine form of Latin bellus, "beautiful, pretty," and donna descends from Latin domina, "lady, mistress of a household." Both are ordinary Italian words rather than name elements, so the meaning is a literal translation of a phrase, not a customary name meaning.
The same phrase became the species name of the deadly nightshade, Atropa belladonna, and the word is much better known from that plant than as a personal name.
Belladonna Name History & Origins
The word came into English mainly through botany. Carl Linnaeus gave the deadly nightshade its two-part scientific name Atropa belladonna in the 18th century, taking the genus from Atropos, the Greek Fate who cut the thread of life, and the species from Italian bella donna. English speakers then used belladonna as the plant's common name. The same epithet appears in the unrelated belladonna lily, Amaryllis belladonna.
Why the nightshade was called "beautiful lady" is not settled. A widely repeated explanation says Italian women used drops of the plant's juice to enlarge their pupils for a fashionable wide-eyed look. That account is traditional rather than firmly documented, and other explanations have been proposed, so the reason behind the plant name remains uncertain.
As a personal name, Belladonna is only occasionally used, chiefly in English, and it is not part of the usual stock of Italian given names. It appears in J. R. R. Tolkien's legendarium as Belladonna Took, mother of Bilbo Baggins; this is a literary use and does not show how the name was used earlier. The phrase also became a familiar title when Stevie Nicks released the album Bella Donna in 1981.
How Popular is the Name Belladonna?
Belladonna has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2009. Its best rank was #4,425 in 2021.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #4,783 | 28 | 0.0017% |
| 2024 | #5,160 | 25 | 0.0015% |
| 2023 | #5,993 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2022 | #6,757 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2021 | #4,425 | 31 | 0.0019% |
| 2020 | #5,690 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 2019 | #5,827 | 21 | 0.0013% |
| 2018 | #5,337 | 24 | 0.0014% |
| 2017 | #6,575 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2016 | #5,648 | 23 | 0.0013% |
| 2015 | #7,024 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2014 | #6,756 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2013 | #5,850 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 2012 | #5,423 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 2011 | #5,972 | 22 | 0.0013% |
| 2010 | #7,260 | 17 | 0.0010% |
| 2009 | #4,700 | 31 | 0.0017% |
| 2008 | #6,155 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2007 | #7,785 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 2006 | #10,018 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2004 | #8,324 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2003 | #14,112 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2002 | #12,385 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #11,150 | 8 | 0.0004% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Belladonna Shapes Your Personality and Life?
You can go to great heights and equally great depths. You are emotional and fixed in your opinions. You are hospitable, sentimental, often psychic, sometimes moody. You are ruled by love and the lack of it and feel a need to be encouraged and appreciated. You have an eventful, exciting life. You are versatile and have the ability to learn easily.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Belladonna's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Belladonna's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.