Tela
Feminine form of Telo, derived from Greek telos (purpose or aim).
Name Census estimates that about 643 living Americans carry the first name Tela. It is a predominantly female name (99.0% of registrations). The average person named Tela today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Tela births was 1985 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Tela. 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
643
~ 1 in 533,055 Americans
Peak year
1985
45 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
1997 SSA rank
#8,022
Tracked since 1894
Census
Tela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 680 people with the first name Tela, which placed it at #16,535 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
#16,535
National first-name rank
People counted
680
680 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Tela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tela is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.4%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tela 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 Tela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.0% · 306
- Black or African American37.4% · 254
- Two or more races6.2% · 42
- Hispanic or Latino5.9% · 40
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 16
Gender
Gender distribution for Tela
Tela leans heavily female at 99.0% of total registrations, but 7 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Tela as a male name
- Ranked #8,022 in 1997
- 7 male births in 1997
- Peak: 1997 (7 births)
Tela as a female name
- Ranked #11,348 in 2018
- 9 female births in 2018
- Peak: 1985 (45 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tela leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (96.1%), compared with 26 male bearers (3.9%).
Popularity
Tela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Tela from the 1890s through to the 2010s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 195 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Tela 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 Tela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Telas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Tela
The given name Tela has its origins rooted in ancient Sanskrit, one of the earliest known Indo-Aryan languages. Derived from the Sanskrit word "tela," which translates to "oil" or "ghee," this name was initially associated with individuals involved in the production or trade of these substances.
In ancient Hindu scriptures, such as the Vedas and Upanishads, the name Tela appears as a reference to the sacred oil used in religious ceremonies and rituals. This connection gives the name a spiritual connotation, often linked to purity and enlightenment.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Tela can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata, where a character named Tela plays a minor role. This epic is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Tela. One such figure was Tela Desam (c. 1200 CE), a renowned Indian mathematician and astronomer from the Kakatiya dynasty, known for his contributions to the development of mathematical concepts and astronomical theories.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Tela Vennela (1650-1720), a Telugu poet and scholar from the Nayak dynasty of Madurai. Her literary works, particularly her poems on devotion and spirituality, have left a lasting impact on Telugu literature.
In the realm of art, Tela Cavanilles (1765-1840) was a Spanish painter and engraver known for his intricate botanical illustrations and his contributions to the field of plant taxonomy.
Tela Dozier (1909-1974), an American civil rights activist and educator, played a pivotal role in desegregating schools in the state of Alabama during the mid-20th century. Her tireless efforts and dedication to equal education rights have left a lasting legacy.
Lastly, Tela Chajkovas (1941-2018), a Lithuanian basketball player and coach, achieved great success on the international stage, leading the Soviet Union national team to numerous victories and championships during the 1960s and 1970s.
People
Tela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Tela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with T
Other first names starting with T with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Tela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Tela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Tela 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 533,055 US residents.
Is Tela a common name?
We classify Tela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 700 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Tela most popular?
The single biggest year for Tela was 1985, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Tela is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Tela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 680 people with the name Tela, or 0.23 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,535 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 Tela 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 Tela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Tela leans strongly female. 649 people counted with this name were female (96.1%), compared with 26 male bearers (3.9%). 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 Tela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Tela is White at 45.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.4%) and Two or More Races (6.2%). 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 Tela most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Tela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.0% (306 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 Tela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Tela a female name?
Yes, 99.0% of people registered as Tela 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 Tela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Tela 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 Tela 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 Tela?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.