Ad%c3%a9lie

The name Adélie is a French feminine form derived from the Old High German name Adalheidis, composed of the elements adal, meaning noble, and heid, meaning kind or type, together conveying the sense of noble nature. It is a diminutive or variant of Adèle and shares its roots with the widely used Adelaide. The name gained particular geographical fame when the French explorer Jules Dumont d'Urville named a portion of Antarctica Adélie Land in 1840 after his wife Adèle, and the Adélie penguin takes its name from the same source. Related forms include Adèle, Adeline, and Adelaide.