Nela
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "blue lotus flower".
Name Census estimates that about 417 living Americans carry the first name Nela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nela today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nela births was 2019 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nela. 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 Nela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
417
~ 1 in 821,953 Americans
Peak year
2019
27 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,833
Tracked since 1903
Census
Nela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 834 people with the first name Nela, which placed it at #14,190 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
#14,190
National first-name rank
People counted
834
834 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
61.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nela is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Nela 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 Nela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White61.0% · 509
- Hispanic or Latino18.7% · 156
- Black or African American9.2% · 77
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.8% · 65
- Two or more races2.9% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Popularity
Nela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nela from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 172 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Nela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nela 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 Nela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nelas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Illinois, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Nela, while New Jersey, Florida, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nela
The name Nela is believed to have its origins in the Slavic languages, particularly in the Czech and Slovak regions of Central Europe. It is thought to be a diminutive or shortened form of the feminine name Nellie or Nelly, which itself is a derivative of the name Helen or Helena.
In its earliest known usage, Nela was a Czech and Slovak variant of the name Nellie, which emerged as a pet form or nickname for the more formal name Helen or Helena. The name Helen has ancient Greek roots, derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright one" or "torch."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Nela can be traced back to the 14th century, when it appeared in historical records from the Czech lands. During this time, it was primarily used as a diminutive form of Nellie or as a standalone name among Czech and Slovak families.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Nela. One of the earliest was Nela Martinovská (1882-1957), a Czech writer and translator who was known for her works of fiction and her translations of English literature into Czech.
Another prominent figure was Nela Očenášová (1925-1994), a Slovak actress and singer who gained popularity in the mid-20th century for her roles in Slovak films and her performances on stage.
In the field of sports, Nela Dženkić (born 1987) is a Serbian professional tennis player who has represented her country in numerous international competitions.
Nela Rubinštejn (1909-2001) was a prominent Croatian artist and painter, known for her abstract expressionist works and her contributions to the art scene in Zagreb.
More recently, Nela Boudihaj (born 1992) is an Albanian pop singer and songwriter who has achieved success with several hit singles and albums in her home country.
While the name Nela has its roots in Central and Eastern Europe, it has since gained popularity and usage in various parts of the world, although its origins can be traced back to the Slavic languages and cultures.
People
Nela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 417 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nela 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 821,953 US residents.
Is Nela a common name?
We classify Nela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nela most popular?
The single biggest year for Nela was 2019, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nela is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 834 people with the name Nela, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,190 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 Nela 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 Nela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nela appears almost entirely female. Of the 836 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Nela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nela is White at 61.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (18.7%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Nela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.0% (509 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 Nela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nela 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 Nela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nela 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 Nela 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 called Nela?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.