FOR REAL: As a girls' name, Aria comes from the Italian word aria, which means 'song.' In general musical terms, this word is used for an operatic solo. As a girls' name, it was first used in the USA in the early 1900s, though it didn't get popular until the 1990s. In 2013, it was #39 in the top 7000. Its recent popularity comes from the character of Arya (the second most popular spelling in 2013) from the television series Game of Thrones, which is based on George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series of books.

As a boys' name, Aria (also commonly found as Aryeh or Arieh) is a minor character in the Old Testament. This name is derived from ari meaning "lion" in Hebrew.