Xela
Xela is a feminine given name of Hebrew origin meaning "redemption".
Name Census estimates that about 340 living Americans carry the first name Xela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Xela today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xela births was 2022 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xela. 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 Xela with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
340
~ 1 in 1,008,101 Americans
Peak year
2022
42 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,412
Tracked since 1995
Census
Xela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 228 people with the first name Xela, which placed it at #35,335 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
#35,335
National first-name rank
People counted
228
228 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
32.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xela is Hispanic at 32.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Black (16.2%). 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 Xela 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 Xela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino32.9% · 75
- White31.6% · 72
- Black or African American16.2% · 37
- Two or more races9.2% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.6% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.5% · 8
Popularity
Xela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xela from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 142 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Xela 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 Xela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Xelas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Xela
The given name Xela has its origins in the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztec people of ancient Mexico. The name is believed to have derived from the word "xelhua," which means "to divide" or "to separate." This linguistic connection suggests that the name may have been associated with concepts of division, duality, or division of land or resources.
In ancient Aztec culture, names often held deep symbolic significance, reflecting cultural values, beliefs, or celestial events. While there is limited historical documentation on the specific origins and early usage of the name Xela, its Nahuatl roots trace back to the time of the Aztec Empire, which flourished between the 14th and 16th centuries in what is now central Mexico.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Xela are found in colonial-era documents from the 16th and 17th centuries, where it appears as a personal name among indigenous populations in Mexico. One notable figure from this time was Xela Cuauhtémoc, a prominent Nahua leader who led resistance efforts against Spanish colonial rule in the late 16th century.
As the Spanish colonization of the Americas progressed, the name Xela likely spread to other regions, potentially carried by indigenous populations or adopted by Spanish settlers. In the 18th century, historical records show a Xela Hernández, a landowner and rancher in the region of present-day Texas.
Fast forward to the 20th century, and the name Xela gained greater visibility through its association with notable individuals. One such figure was Xela Avelar (1920-2012), a Salvadoran writer and activist known for her contributions to feminist literature and social movements in Central America.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Xela Trían (1935-2011), a Mexican artist renowned for her vibrant paintings and murals that celebrated indigenous Mexican culture and traditions. Her works are displayed in numerous museums and public spaces throughout Mexico.
It is worth noting that while the name Xela has ancient roots in Mesoamerican cultures, its usage has been relatively uncommon in modern times, likely due to the influence of Spanish colonization and the subsequent adoption of European naming conventions. However, its unique linguistic heritage and cultural connections have ensured that it remains a distinctive and meaningful name within certain communities and regions.
People
Xela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 340 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xela 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 1,008,101 US residents.
Is Xela a common name?
We classify Xela as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 343 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xela most popular?
The single biggest year for Xela was 2022, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xela is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Xela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 228 people with the name Xela, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,335 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 Xela 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 Xela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xela leans strongly female. 223 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Xela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xela is Hispanic at 32.9%. The next largest groups are White (31.6%) and Black (16.2%). 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 Xela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Xela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 32.9% (75 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 Xela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xela 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 Xela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xela 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 Xela 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 common is the name Xela?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.