Azalia is usually explained as a spelling of the flower name Azalea, which goes back to the Greek azaleos, "dry", because the shrub thrives in dry, sandy soil. Some families instead link it to the biblical Azaliah, a Hebrew name read as "spared by God". In the United States Azalia has drifted around the low 2000s for years, climbed from number 3507 in 2019 to its best rank of 2041 in 2024 and stands at number 2331 in 2025.