Ciela
A girl's name of Spanish origin meaning "sky" or "heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 292 living Americans carry the first name Ciela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ciela today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ciela births was 2024 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ciela. 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 Ciela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
292
~ 1 in 1,173,816 Americans
Peak year
2024
38 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,892
Tracked since 1999
Census
Ciela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 216 people with the first name Ciela, which placed it at #36,618 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
#36,618
National first-name rank
People counted
216
216 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ciela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ciela is Hispanic at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (9.3%). 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 Ciela 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 Ciela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.4% · 96
- White30.1% · 65
- Two or more races9.3% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.9% · 17
- Black or African American6.9% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 3
Popularity
Ciela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ciela from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 119 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
Ciela 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 Ciela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cielas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ciela
The name Ciela is a feminine name derived from the Spanish word "cielo," which means "sky" or "heaven." Its origins can be traced back to Latin, where the word "caelum" also meant "sky" or "heavens." The name is believed to have emerged during the Middle Ages in Spain and other Spanish-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ciela can be found in a 13th-century Spanish manuscript, where it was used to refer to a young woman from a noble family. The name was likely chosen to symbolize purity, beauty, and celestial grace.
During the Renaissance period, the name gained popularity among artists and poets who drew inspiration from the heavens. In the 16th century, Ciela Montero, a Spanish painter renowned for her celestial-themed artworks, became one of the first notable figures to bear this name.
In the 17th century, the name Ciela appeared in several religious texts and sermons, reflecting its association with the divine and celestial realms. One notable example is Ciela de la Cruz, a Spanish nun and mystic who lived from 1642 to 1697 and was known for her spiritual writings and devotion.
As the name spread throughout the Spanish-speaking world, it was embraced by various cultures and regions. In the 19th century, Ciela García, a Mexican poet and activist, used her writing to advocate for women's rights and social justice.
Another notable figure was Ciela Sánchez, a Cuban revolutionary who fought alongside Fidel Castro during the Cuban Revolution in the 1950s. Her bravery and dedication to the cause earned her a place in the annals of Cuban history.
In more recent times, the name Ciela has been carried by several influential women, including Ciela Villalón, a Chilean writer and journalist born in 1948, and Ciela Rodríguez, a Peruvian actress and television host born in 1971.
While the name Ciela has its roots in Spanish and Latin, it has transcended cultural boundaries and found recognition across various regions and eras, symbolizing the beauty and wonder of the celestial realms.
People
Ciela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ciela 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
Ciela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ciela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 292 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ciela 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 1,173,816 US residents.
Is Ciela a common name?
We classify Ciela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 295 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ciela most popular?
The single biggest year for Ciela was 2024, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ciela is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ciela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 216 people with the name Ciela, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,618 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 Ciela 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 Ciela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ciela appears almost entirely female. Of the 204 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 Ciela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ciela is Hispanic at 44.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.1%) and Two or More Races (9.3%). 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 Ciela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ciela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.4% (96 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 Ciela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ciela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ciela 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 Ciela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ciela 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 Ciela 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 named Ciela?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.