Mozella
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Moses.
Name Census estimates that about 433 living Americans carry the first name Mozella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mozella today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mozella births was 1920 (57 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mozella. 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
- • The typical person named Mozella is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Mozellas were born before 1962.
People living today
433
~ 1 in 791,580 Americans
Peak year
1920
57 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1982 SSA rank
#11,673
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mozella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 499 people with the first name Mozella, which placed it at #20,625 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
#20,625
National first-name rank
People counted
499
499 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mozella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mozella is Black at 84.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Mozella 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 Mozella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American84.6% · 422
- White9.2% · 46
- Two or more races3.4% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Mozella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mozella from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 437 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
Mozella 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 Mozella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mozellas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 10 states and territories. Mississippi, North Carolina, Georgia recorded the most babies named Mozella, while Illinois, Texas, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 41 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mozella
The given name Mozella is believed to have originated from the medieval English language, with roots tracing back to the 13th century. It is thought to be a variant or diminutive form of the name Mozelle, which itself is derived from the Old French word "moselle," meaning "from the Moselle region."
The Moselle is a major river that flows through France, Luxembourg, and Germany, and it is likely that the name Mozella was initially used to identify individuals who hailed from towns or villages situated along this waterway. Variations in spelling, such as Mosella, Mozella, and Mosella, were common during the Middle Ages due to the lack of standardized orthography.
While there are no definitive records of the name Mozella appearing in ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is noteworthy that the Moselle River region has a rich cultural and historical significance. This region was a part of the Frankish Empire during the reign of Charlemagne and later fell under the control of various noble houses and ruling dynasties.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mozella can be found in the English parish records of the 14th century, where a woman named Mozella de Weston was listed as a resident of the village of Weston in Hertfordshire. Another notable figure bearing this name was Mozella Fitzwilliam, a Tudor-era noblewoman who lived in the early 16th century and was a member of the influential Fitzwilliam family.
Throughout history, several individuals have carried the name Mozella, although it has remained relatively uncommon. One such person was Mozella Muir (1878-1956), an American painter and illustrator who was active in the early 20th century and known for her portraits and landscapes. Mozella Byers (1896-1982) was another notable figure, a pioneering African American educator who worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for Black students in the segregated South.
In the realm of literature, Mozella Kendrick (1911-2002) was an American poet and author whose works explored themes of racial identity, social justice, and the African American experience. Additionally, Mozella Nance (1920-2014) was a celebrated blues singer and songwriter from Mississippi, known for her powerful vocals and contributions to the blues genre.
Mozella Vowell (1932-2020) was an American businesswoman and philanthropist who co-founded the Vowell Inc. construction company and dedicated her efforts to supporting educational initiatives and community development in her hometown of Searcy, Arkansas.
People
Mozella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mozella as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Mozella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mozella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 433 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mozella 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 791,580 US residents.
Is Mozella a common name?
We classify Mozella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,823 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mozella most popular?
The single biggest year for Mozella was 1920, when 57 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mozella is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mozella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 499 people with the name Mozella, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,625 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 Mozella 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 Mozella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mozella appears almost entirely female. Of the 502 people counted with this name, 99.0% 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 Mozella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mozella is Black at 84.6%. The next largest groups are White (9.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Mozella most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Mozella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (422 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 Mozella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mozella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mozella 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 Mozella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mozella 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 Mozella 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 Mozella as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.