Caela
A feminine name derived from the Latin caelum, meaning "sky" or "heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 451 living Americans carry the first name Caela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Caela today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Caela births was 1994 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Caela. 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.
People living today
451
~ 1 in 759,987 Americans
Peak year
1994
23 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2018 SSA rank
#10,726
Tracked since 1985
Popularity
Caela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Caela from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Caela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Caela 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 Caela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Caela
The name Caela is believed to have originated from the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is thought to be a feminine form of the Latin name Caelus, which means "heaven" or "sky." The name Caela thus carries a celestial connotation, associated with the heavens and the divine.
In ancient Roman mythology, Caelus was the primordial god of the sky, often depicted as a powerful and majestic figure. The name Caela may have been given to girls as a way to invoke the protection and blessings of the celestial deities, or as a symbol of their aspirations to embody the qualities of the heavenly realm.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Caela can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived between 59 BC and 17 AD. Livy mentions a woman named Caela in his historical accounts, though little is known about her life or significance.
Throughout the centuries, the name Caela has been borne by several notable figures. In the 5th century AD, Caela was the name of a Roman noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her patronage of poets and artists during the late Roman Empire. Another famous bearer of the name was Caela of Trier, a 9th-century Frankish abbess and scholar who was renowned for her contributions to the preservation of ancient texts and her promotion of education.
Moving into the medieval period, Caela of Marburg was a 13th-century German mystic and visionary who was known for her spiritual visions and her work in caring for the poor and sick. Her life and teachings influenced the growth of mysticism in Europe during the Middle Ages.
In the Renaissance era, Caela Reni was an Italian painter and artist who lived from 1575 to 1642. She was one of the few female artists of her time to achieve recognition and success, known for her skillful portraiture and religious paintings.
Another notable figure was Caela Boccherini, an 18th-century Italian musician and composer who lived from 1720 to 1805. She was a celebrated harpsichordist and composer of operas and chamber music, contributing to the vibrant musical culture of the Baroque and Classical periods.
While the name Caela has deep historical roots and has been borne by notable individuals throughout the centuries, its usage and popularity have ebbed and flowed across different regions and time periods. Nevertheless, it remains a name with a rich cultural and linguistic heritage, carrying the celestial symbolism of its origins.
People
Caela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Caela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Caela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Caela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 451 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Caela 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 759,987 US residents.
Is Caela a common name?
We classify Caela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Caela most popular?
The single biggest year for Caela was 1994, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Caela is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Caela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Caela 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.
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.