Anela
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "watchful guard" or "ray of light".
Name Census estimates that about 1,700 living Americans carry the first name Anela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anela today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anela births was 2007 (79 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anela. 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 Anela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.7K
~ 1 in 201,620 Americans
Peak year
2007
79 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,012
Tracked since 1959
Census
Anela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,612 people with the first name Anela, which placed it at #8,849 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,849
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,612 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
37.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anela is White at 37.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.2%) and Two or More Races (17.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Anela described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Anela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White37.2% · 600
- Hispanic or Latino21.2% · 342
- Two or more races17.9% · 288
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.7% · 269
- Black or African American6.2% · 100
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 13
Popularity
Anela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anela from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 590 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Anela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anela 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 Anela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Hawaii, California, Washington recorded the most babies named Anela, while Nevada, Missouri, Colorado recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 78 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anela
The given name Anela has its roots in the Hawaiian language and culture. Derived from the Hawaiian words "ana", meaning breath or shadow, and "lā", meaning sun, the name can be interpreted to mean "breath of the sun" or "shadow of the sun". It has been a popular name among Hawaiians for centuries, often given to children born during the golden hours of sunrise or sunset.
Historically, the name Anela has been closely tied to Hawaiian mythology and folklore. In ancient Hawaiian legends, Anela was often depicted as a gentle and nurturing spirit, associated with the warmth and life-giving properties of the sun. The name was believed to bestow qualities of radiance, vitality, and protection upon those who bore it.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Anela date back to the 16th century, appearing in Hawaiian genealogical records and oral traditions. Notable historical figures who carried this name include Anela Kealiʻiahonui, a revered kahuna (priest) and healer from the island of Kauai in the late 18th century, renowned for her vast knowledge of traditional Hawaiian healing practices.
Another prominent figure was Anela Kaʻauwai, a celebrated hula dancer and chanter who lived in the 19th century. She played a significant role in preserving and passing down the intricate hula traditions and chants to future generations, ensuring the survival of this crucial aspect of Hawaiian culture.
In the realm of Hawaiian royalty, Anela Kekūanāoʻa, born in 1835, was a prominent figure. She was the daughter of Kekūanaōʻa, the governor of Oʻahu, and served as a trusted advisor and confidante to King Kamehameha IV and Queen Emma.
Moving into the 20th century, Anela Suganuma, born in 1920, was a notable Hawaiian artist and educator. Her vibrant paintings captured the essence of Hawaii's landscapes, flora, and cultural traditions, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards throughout her career.
Anela Nāone, born in 1944, is a respected Hawaiian scholar and advocate for indigenous rights. She has dedicated her life to preserving and promoting the Hawaiian language, culture, and traditional practices, making significant contributions to the revitalization efforts of her community.
People
Anela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anela 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
Anela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,700 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anela 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 201,620 US residents.
Is Anela a common name?
We classify Anela as "Rare". It ranks above 93% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,735 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anela most popular?
The single biggest year for Anela was 2007, when 79 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anela is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,612 people with the name Anela, or 0.53 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,849 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Anela in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Anela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anela appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,611 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Anela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anela is White at 37.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.2%) and Two or More Races (17.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Anela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 37.2% (600 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Anela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anela 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 Anela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anela 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 Anela 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.
How many people are called Anela?
You can see how many Americans are named Anela on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.