Cordelia is of uncertain origin, usually explained as coming from the Latin cor, "heart", although the oldest form, Cordeilla, appears in a medieval British legend. Shakespeare gave the name to the loyal youngest daughter in King Lear, and Anne of Green Gables famously wished she had been named Cordelia. In the United States it sat at number 949 in 2015, spent nine years just outside the top 1000 and returned at number 981 in 2025.