Louella
A feminine English given name derived from the French name Loulou or Louloute, meaning "darling".
Name Census estimates that about 4,079 living Americans carry the first name Louella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Louella today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Louella births was 1932 (266 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Louella. 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
4.1K
~ 1 in 84,029 Americans
Peak year
1932
266 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,489
Tracked since 1880
Popularity
Louella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Louella from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 2,457 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Louella 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 Louella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Louellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Louisiana, Pennsylvania, Ohio recorded the most babies named Louella, while South Dakota, Idaho, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 202 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Louella
Louella is a feminine given name of English origin. It emerged as a combination of the French names Louise and Ella in the 19th century. The name Louise derives from the Germanic name Hlodwig, which means "famous warrior." Ella is a shortened form of names like Eleanor, which comes from the Greek ainos meaning "praise."
The first recorded use of the name Louella dates back to 1854 in the United States. It gained popularity in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. One of the earliest notable individuals with this name was Louella Parsons (1881-1972), an American gossip columnist and writer who was a pioneer in the field of celebrity journalism.
Another famous Louella was Louella Duvall Fletcher (1913-2007), an American civil rights activist and author who co-founded the National Alliance of Black Feminists. She was also the first African American woman to serve in the U.S. Maritime Service during World War II.
In the literary world, Louella Everett (1878-1972) was an American author and playwright known for her works depicting life in the American South. Her novel, "The Woodsmoke Camp," published in 1900, was one of her most notable works.
Louella Parsons' daughter, Louella Oettinger Parsons (1915-1990), was also a notable figure. She was an American film producer and philanthropist who established the Louella Parsons Foundation to support charitable causes.
In the field of music, Louella Flanders (1892-1972) was an American folk singer and songwriter, known for her work in preserving and promoting traditional folk music from the Appalachian region.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Louella, highlighting its versatility and enduring presence across various fields and cultural contexts.
People
Louella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Louella 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
Louella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Louella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,079 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Louella 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 84,029 US residents.
Is Louella a common name?
We classify Louella as "Rare". It ranks above 96.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 13,809 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Louella most popular?
The single biggest year for Louella was 1932, when 266 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Louella is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Louella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Louella 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.