Aela
A feminine given name derived from the Old Norse word for "light elf".
Name Census estimates that about 643 living Americans carry the first name Aela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aela today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aela births was 2024 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aela. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Aela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
643
~ 1 in 533,055 Americans
Peak year
2024
64 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,688
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Aela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aela from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 326 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aela by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Aela, while Georgia, Arizona, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aela
The name Aela has its origins in Old Norse, a North Germanic language once spoken by inhabitants of Scandinavia and their descendants. It is derived from the Old Norse word "ǽla," which means "whirlwind" or "storm wind." The name can be traced back to the Viking Age, a period spanning from the late 8th century to the late 11th century.
Aela was a relatively common name among the Norse people, particularly in Iceland and other Scandinavian regions. It was often given to girls born during stormy or turbulent weather, symbolizing the strength and power of nature. The name is also believed to have been associated with the goddess Freyja, the Norse deity of love, beauty, and fertility, who was sometimes depicted as a powerful force of nature.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aela can be found in the Icelandic Sagas, a collection of stories and historical accounts written in the 13th and 14th centuries. In the Saga of Erik the Red, there is a mention of a woman named Aela who accompanied Erik on his voyage to Greenland in the late 10th century.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aela. One such person was Aela of Northumbria (c. 654 - 685), a princess and abbess in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria. She was the daughter of King Oswiu and is renowned for founding the monastery of Hartlepool in present-day England.
Another notable Aela was Aela of Mercia (c. 685 - 718), a princess of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Mercia. She was the daughter of King Aethelred and is remembered for her piety and her role in the establishment of several monasteries in the region.
In the realm of literature, the name Aela appears in the Old English epic poem Beowulf, where it is mentioned as the name of a servant or attendant. Additionally, in J.R.R. Tolkien's fictional world of Middle-earth, there is a character named Aela, a female hunter and member of the Woodmen tribe.
Other historical figures with the name Aela include Aela of Wessex (c. 810 - 867), a noble lady and landowner in the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Wessex, and Aela of Denmark (c. 975 - 1035), a Danish noblewoman and landowner who lived during the reign of King Canute the Great.
People
Aela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aela going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 533,055 US residents.
Is Aela a common name?
We classify Aela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 647 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aela most popular?
The single biggest year for Aela was 2024, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aela is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Aela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aela in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Aela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aela in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Aela can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have Aela as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Aela on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.