Kornelia
Latin at root, from the Roman clan Cornelius and the word cornu, "horn". It rings familiar in Poland and still lands on birth certificates today, sitting comfortably inside the top 200 for girls.
Kornelia Pronunciation
Kornelia is pronounced kor-NEL-yah (/kɔrˈnɛlja/).
What Kornelia means
Where Kornelia comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Kornelia comes from Latin, from Cornelius, the name of one of ancient Rome's great clans. Its root is cornu, the Latin word for horn, which is why the short meaning fixed to the name is horn, or in Polish róg. The older Latin spelling survives in the variant Cornelia.
Rome remembers a Cornelia already. Cornelia, mother of the Gracchi, was praised for calling her sons her jewels, and her name stood for a certain Roman dignity. The masculine form is Kornel, and it reached Polish letters through Kornel Makuszyński, who wrote the adventures of Koziołek Matołek for generations of children.
Poland began recording Kornelia around 1770, and the name settled in with a softer everyday shape, the diminutive Nela. Its imieniny falls on 31 March. Read a school register that week and a Kornelia may well be sitting a few rows from a Nela, both names tracing back to one Latin horn, cornu.
When Kornelia celebrates name day
Kornelia appears 1 time in the Polish name day calendar, 1 of them as a main name, the first on 31 March.
The days Polish calendars list this name on. By custom you celebrate one of them, usually the first after your birthday.
How many people are named Kornelia
1 in 428 women in Poland is named Kornelia. 52,638 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #183 among female names.
Kornelia's popularity over time
1,595 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #50 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2000.
Where parents choose Kornelia
Kornelia is most popular in Łódź, 30% above the national average (1,037 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Kuyavian-Pomeranian (+24%) and Lublin (+24%). It is least common in Opole and Silesian, 69% and 33% below average respectively.
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Łódź
+30%1 in 122 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
+24%1 in 128 babies
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Lublin
+24%1 in 128 babies
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Opole
−69%1 in 518 babies
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Silesian
−33%1 in 239 babies
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Lower Silesian
−23%1 in 206 babies
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Łódź+30% 1,037 born1 in 122 babies+30%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian+24% 856 born1 in 128 babies+24%
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Lublin+24% 802 born1 in 128 babies+24%
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Podlaskie+23% 510 born1 in 129 babies+23%
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Holy Cross+17% 407 born1 in 136 babies+17%
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Subcarpathian+9% 830 born1 in 145 babies+9%
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Masovian+7% 2,391 born1 in 148 babies+7%
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Lesser Poland+5% 1,504 born1 in 151 babies+5%
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Pomeranian+5% 970 born1 in 152 babies+5%
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Warmian-Masurian−3% 438 born1 in 164 babies−3%
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Greater Poland−3% 1,312 born1 in 164 babies−3%
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Lubusz−8% 288 born1 in 172 babies−8%
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West Pomeranian−16% 446 born1 in 189 babies−16%
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Lower Silesian−23% 764 born1 in 206 babies−23%
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Silesian−33% 954 born1 in 239 babies−33%
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Opole−69% 89 born1 in 518 babies−69%
Kornelia as a middle name
Kornelia is a first name for 52,638 women in Poland and a middle name for another 9,850, an 84/16 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 111th, between Eliza (10,077) and Honorata (9,820).
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#109 Jagoda10,085
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#110 Eliza10,077
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#111 Kornelia9,850
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#112 Honorata9,820
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#113 Sara9,660