Fela
A feminine name of West African origin meaning "wealthy or very important person".
Name Census estimates that about 27 living Americans carry the first name Fela. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 90.0% of registrations being female. The average person named Fela today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fela births was 1972 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fela. 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 Fela. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
27
~ 1 in 12,694,605 Americans
Peak year
1972
9 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2006 SSA rank
#12,649
Tracked since 1920
Census
Fela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 244 people with the first name Fela, which placed it at #33,765 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
#33,765
National first-name rank
People counted
244
244 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
39.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fela is Hispanic at 39.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and White (19.3%). 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 Fela 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 Fela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino39.8% · 97
- Black or African American30.7% · 75
- White19.3% · 47
- Two or more races7.4% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 7
Gender
Gender distribution for Fela
Fela leans heavily female at 90.0% of total registrations, but 5 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Fela as a male name
- Ranked #12,649 in 2006
- 5 male births in 2006
- Peak: 2006 (5 births)
Fela as a female name
- Ranked #14,051 in 2021
- 6 female births in 2021
- Peak: 1972 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Fela on both sides of the split. Of the 247 people counted with this name, 69 were male (27.9%) and 178 were female (72.1%).
Popularity
Fela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fela from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1930s peak, Fela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fela 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 Fela 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 Fela
The name Fela originates from the Yoruba language spoken in southwestern Nigeria and neighboring regions. It dates back to the 15th century and is believed to be derived from the Yoruba word "Fe" meaning "to make" or "to love".
In Yoruba culture, Fela was traditionally a name given to boys, signifying a desire for the child to be a maker or creator of something valuable. The name was also associated with creativity, artistry, and a love for one's craft.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Fela can be found in the oral histories and folklore of the Yoruba people. Several folktales and proverbs mention characters with the name, highlighting its cultural significance.
Perhaps the most famous bearer of the name Fela was Fela Kuti, the legendary Nigerian musician, and pioneer of Afrobeat music. Born in 1938 and passing away in 1997, Fela Kuti's music and activism had a profound impact on African culture and politics.
Another notable figure named Fela was Fela Sowande, a Nigerian-American composer, and musician born in 1905. He was known for his contributions to the development of African-American classical music and his efforts to promote African musical traditions.
In the realm of sports, Fela Navi was a Nigerian footballer who played as a striker for various clubs in Nigeria and Europe in the 1970s and 1980s. He was a prominent figure in Nigerian football during his career.
In literature, Fela Félix, born in 1935, was a writer and poet from Equatorial Guinea. Her works explored themes of identity, colonialism, and the struggle for independence in her home country.
Fela Ige, born in 1936, was a Nigerian lawyer and politician who served as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice in Nigeria from 1999 to 2001. He was known for his efforts to combat corruption and promote legal reforms.
People
Fela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 27 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fela 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 12,694,605 US residents.
Is Fela a common name?
We classify Fela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 44.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 50 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fela most popular?
The single biggest year for Fela was 1972, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fela is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 244 people with the name Fela, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #33,765 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 Fela 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 Fela?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Fela on both sides of the split. Of the 247 people counted with this name, 69 were male (27.9%) and 178 were female (72.1%). 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 Fela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fela is Hispanic at 39.8%. The next largest groups are Black (30.7%) and White (19.3%). 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 Fela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Fela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.8% (97 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 Fela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fela a female name?
Yes, 90.0% of people registered as Fela 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 Fela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fela 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 Fela 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 have the name Fela?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.