Liela
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "night beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 188 living Americans carry the first name Liela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Liela today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Liela births was 1933 (13 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Liela. 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 Liela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
188
~ 1 in 1,823,161 Americans
Peak year
1933
13 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,609
Tracked since 1919
Census
Liela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 370 people with the first name Liela, which placed it at #25,584 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
#25,584
National first-name rank
People counted
370
370 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Liela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liela is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Liela 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 Liela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.8% · 199
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.6% · 43
- Black or African American10.8% · 40
- Two or more races4.9% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 7
Popularity
Liela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Liela from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 73 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Liela 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 Liela 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 Liela
The name Liela has its origins in the Latvian language and culture. It is a diminutive form of the name Lija, which is derived from the biblical name Lija or Leah. The name can be traced back to ancient Hebrew, where it means "weary" or "tired." In Latvian, the name Liela carries connotations of being a small or little one.
Historically, the name Liela does not appear to have been widely used in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it gained popularity in Latvia and surrounding regions during the Middle Ages and Renaissance period. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Liela can be found in a Latvian folktale from the 16th century, where it is used as the name of a young maiden.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Liela. One such figure was Liela Baumane (1892-1980), a Latvian painter and artist who was known for her pioneering work in abstract art. Another notable Liela was Liela Kauņūze (1891-1984), a Latvian actress and theater director who played a significant role in the development of Latvian theater in the early 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Liela Strazdiņa (1895-1976) was a Latvian writer and poet who gained recognition for her works depicting the lives of Latvian peasants and the natural beauty of her homeland. Liela Vālbērga (1908-1994) was a Latvian biologist and botanist who made significant contributions to the study of plant ecology and conservation.
Lastly, Liela Mārdžija (1914-2002) was a Latvian ceramic artist and sculptor who gained international acclaim for her innovative and expressive works in clay. Her sculptures and ceramic pieces can be found in numerous museums and galleries around the world.
While the name Liela may not have had a widespread historical presence, it has been carried by several notable individuals who have left their mark in various fields, particularly in the arts and sciences, within the Latvian cultural context.
People
Liela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Liela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Liela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Liela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 188 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Liela 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 1,823,161 US residents.
Is Liela a common name?
We classify Liela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 308 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Liela most popular?
The single biggest year for Liela was 1933, when 13 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Liela is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Liela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 370 people with the name Liela, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,584 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 Liela 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 Liela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Liela appears almost entirely female. Of the 363 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Liela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Liela is White at 53.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (11.6%). 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 Liela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Liela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.8% (199 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 Liela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Liela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Liela 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 Liela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Liela 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 Liela 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 Liela as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Liela on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.