Teyla
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially meaning "watered".
Name Census estimates that about 316 living Americans carry the first name Teyla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Teyla today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Teyla births was 2008 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Teyla. 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 Teyla with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
316
~ 1 in 1,084,666 Americans
Peak year
2008
31 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,400
Tracked since 2004
Census
Teyla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 295 people with the first name Teyla, which placed it at #29,826 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
#29,826
National first-name rank
People counted
295
295 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
53.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Teyla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teyla is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Two or More Races (14.6%). 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 Teyla 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 Teyla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White53.9% · 159
- Black or African American14.6% · 43
- Two or more races14.6% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino14.2% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 3
Popularity
Teyla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Teyla from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 161 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
Teyla 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 Teyla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Teylas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Teyla
The name Teyla is believed to have its origins in the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest known written languages, which was spoken in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) around 3500 BCE. The name is thought to be derived from the Sumerian word "tela," meaning "life" or "to live."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Teyla can be found in cuneiform inscriptions from the city of Ur, dating back to around 2500 BCE. These inscriptions mention a woman named Teyla who was a priestess in the temple of the moon god Nanna. This suggests that the name may have held religious or spiritual significance in ancient Sumerian culture.
The name Teyla also appears in several ancient Babylonian texts from around 1800 BCE, where it is mentioned as the name of a woman who was a skilled weaver and textile worker. This connection to the arts and crafts of weaving may have been another aspect of the name's meaning or symbolism in ancient Mesopotamian societies.
Throughout the centuries, the name Teyla has been associated with various historical figures, including Teyla of Cappadocia (born circa 230 CE), who was a Christian martyr and saint revered in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Another notable figure was Teyla al-Khwarizmi (850 - 925 CE), a Persian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of algebra.
In the medieval period, Teyla was the name of a 12th-century Andalusian poet and scholar from Seville, Spain. Her poetry and works on philosophy and literature were highly regarded during her lifetime and in the centuries that followed.
Moving forward in history, Teyla was also the name of a 16th-century Ottoman Turkish noblewoman and philanthropist who established several schools and hospitals in Istanbul and other parts of the Ottoman Empire. She was known for her charitable works and dedication to education and healthcare.
Another notable figure named Teyla was a 19th-century Ethiopian empress and wife of Emperor Tewodros II. She played a significant role in the political and military affairs of the Ethiopian Empire during her husband's reign and was known for her intelligence and leadership skills.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Teyla, highlighting its rich cultural and historical significance across various regions and time periods.
People
Teyla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Teyla 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
Teyla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Teyla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 316 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Teyla 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 1,084,666 US residents.
Is Teyla a common name?
We classify Teyla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 319 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Teyla most popular?
The single biggest year for Teyla was 2008, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Teyla is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Teyla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 295 people with the name Teyla, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,826 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 Teyla 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 Teyla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Teyla appears almost entirely female. Of the 307 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 Teyla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Teyla is White at 53.9%. The next largest groups are Black (14.6%) and Two or More Races (14.6%). 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 Teyla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Teyla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.9% (159 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 Teyla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Teyla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Teyla 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 Teyla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Teyla 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 Teyla 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 Teyla?
If you just want to know how many Americans are named Teyla, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.