Adela

Adela carries itself with European drawing-room grace. Its root is the Old Germanic adal, meaning noble, the same stem that feeds Adele, Adelaide, and Adeline. In Arabic-speaking contexts it appears as a cross-cultural given name, often spelled Adila with the related meaning of just or upright. Three soft syllables, stress on the middle vowel, ending in a warm ah, it sits comfortably in Spanish, Czech, Romanian, and Arabic mouths alike. Adela Cortina, the Spanish philosopher, gives it contemporary intellectual polish. Less worn than Adele, more formal than Ada, Adela is a name with posture.