Cela
A French name meaning "concealed" or "hidden treasure".
Name Census estimates that about 73 living Americans carry the first name Cela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cela today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cela births was 2000 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cela. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cela. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
73
~ 1 in 4,695,265 Americans
Peak year
2000
9 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2022 SSA rank
#15,773
Tracked since 1931
Census
Cela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 332 people with the first name Cela, which placed it at #27,518 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
#27,518
National first-name rank
People counted
332
332 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cela is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.2%) and Black (7.2%). 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 Cela 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 Cela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.9% · 159
- Hispanic or Latino35.2% · 117
- Black or African American7.2% · 24
- Two or more races4.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.3% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 6
Popularity
Cela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cela from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 35 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cela 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 Cela 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 Cela
The name Cela has its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Serbo-Croatian linguistic group. It likely emerged in the medieval period, around the 9th or 10th century CE. The name is derived from the Slavic word "tsel," which means "whole" or "complete." It may also be related to the Old Church Slavonic word "tselu," meaning "to preserve" or "to keep safe."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cela can be found in the "Miroslav Gospel," a medieval Slavic manuscript dating back to the 12th century. In this religious text, the name Cela appears as a masculine given name, although its exact context and significance are not entirely clear.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cela. One of the most famous was Cela Navalić (1360-1434), a Croatian nobleman and military commander who played a significant role in the defense of Dalmatia against the Ottoman Turks during the 15th century.
Another prominent figure was Cela Sekula (1451-1529), a Serbian guerrilla leader and hajduk (outlaw) who fought against the Ottoman Empire in the early 16th century. His exploits and resistance against Ottoman rule have been celebrated in numerous folk songs and legends throughout the Balkans.
In the realm of literature, Cela Milinović (1781-1841) was a Serbian poet and writer who is considered one of the pioneers of modern Serbian literature. His works, which often explored themes of patriotism and national identity, had a significant influence on subsequent generations of Serbian authors.
The name Cela has also been associated with religious figures, such as Cela Bogdanović (1615-1687), a Serbian Orthodox monk and writer who authored several theological works and played a prominent role in the cultural and religious life of the Serbian community in the 17th century.
Lastly, Cela Mihailović (1892-1946) was a Yugoslav Partisan leader and military commander who led the resistance against the Axis powers during World War II. He was a controversial figure, with some considering him a hero and others viewing him as a collaborator with the Nazi regime.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Cela, showcasing its deep roots and cultural significance within the Slavic world.
People
Cela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cela 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
Cela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 73 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cela 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 4,695,265 US residents.
Is Cela a common name?
We classify Cela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 60% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 90 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cela most popular?
The single biggest year for Cela was 2000, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cela is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 332 people with the name Cela, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,518 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 Cela 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 Cela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cela leans strongly female. 324 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 7 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Cela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cela is White at 47.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (35.2%) and Black (7.2%). 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 Cela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.9% (159 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 Cela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cela 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 Cela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cela 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 Cela 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 common is the name Cela?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Cela at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.