Ophelia comes from the Greek ophelos and means "help" or "aid". It was apparently coined by the Italian poet Sannazaro in the 15th century and immortalized by Shakespeare, whose Ophelia in Hamlet drowns among the flowers; for a long time the tragic association kept parents away. That has changed completely: Ophelia entered the US top 1000 in 2015, soared from number 980 that year to number 259 in 2024 and ranks number 264 among girls' names in 2025.