Meaning not yet researched.
Lela: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 76 in 2025. Its best rank was #113 in 1896.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #113 in 1896; #2,374 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Lela in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#2,374 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1896, at #113.
Hover, tap or use the arrow keys for any year. Years with fewer than five babies of a sex are not published by SSA and show as zero.
Lela: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 76 girls in 2025. Peak: #113 in 1896 · most girls in one year: 907 (1921).
In 2025, 76 US girls were named Lela, making it the 2,374th most common girls’ name of the year, down 165 places from #2,209 in 2024. That is 10 fewer than the 86 girls named Lela in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #113, reached in 1896. The most girls given the name in a single year was 907, in 1921. For comparison, it was #1,530 in 2015 and #494 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Lela in every one of the 146 years from 1880 to 2025; in 1880 there were 106 babies with the name. In all, 43,073 US babies have been given the name, 99.8% of them girls and 0.2% boys. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 7,869 babies named Lela.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,118 US girls were named Lela; the busiest of those years was 2016, with 150. In 2025 that was about 1 in 21,148 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Lela ranked highest in Tennessee in 2025, at #1,236 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Lila (76,550 babies since 1880), Leila (55,447 babies since 1880), Lyla (49,299 babies since 1880) and Leola (28,181 babies since 1880).
Meaning not yet researched.
We publish a meaning only with a cited source and a confidence label, and never generate one. Meanings are being researched for the most common names first.
Numbers are all-time US births. Links come from Wikidata’s “said to be the same as” (P460, CC0) and our spelling rule: at most two letters different, with the same sound pattern.
No nicknames listed for Lela in the open dataset we use.
Source: carltonnorthern/nicknames (Apache-2.0).
US girls. Rank within each state. SSA leaves out states where fewer than five girls got the name, so 48 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tennessee | 5 | #1,236 | #1,012 |
| Ohio | 6 | #1,371 | — |
| Georgia | 5 | #1,685 | #1,021 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 76 | #2,374 | — | — |
| 2024 | 86 | #2,209 | — | — |
| 2023 | 89 | #2,151 | — | — |
| 2022 | 100 | #1,970 | — | — |
| 2021 | 111 | #1,823 | — | — |
| 2020 | 109 | #1,814 | — | — |
| 2019 | 116 | #1,765 | — | — |
| 2018 | 139 | #1,562 | — | — |
| 2017 | 142 | #1,548 | — | — |
| 2016 | 150 | #1,514 | — | — |
| 2015 | 147 | #1,530 | — | — |
| 2014 | 152 | #1,477 | — | — |
| 2013 | 156 | #1,444 | — | — |
| 2012 | 178 | #1,325 | — | — |
| 2011 | 142 | #1,552 | — | — |
| 2010 | 145 | #1,542 | — | — |
| 2009 | 161 | #1,446 | — | — |
| 2008 | 157 | #1,492 | — | — |
| 2007 | 176 | #1,378 | — | — |
| 2006 | 152 | #1,465 | — | — |
| 2005 | 143 | #1,476 | — | — |
| 2004 | 134 | #1,508 | — | — |
| 2003 | 122 | #1,585 | — | — |
| 2002 | 106 | #1,725 | — | — |
| 2001 | 111 | #1,644 | — | — |
| 2000 | 118 | #1,538 | — | — |
| 1999 | 92 | #1,748 | — | — |
| 1998 | 63 | #2,265 | — | — |
| 1997 | 63 | #2,183 | — | — |
| 1996 | 76 | #1,906 | — | — |
| 1995 | 57 | #2,326 | — | — |
| 1994 | 52 | #2,444 | — | — |
| 1993 | 72 | #1,960 | — | — |
| 1992 | 56 | #2,336 | — | — |
| 1991 | 80 | #1,792 | — | — |
| 1990 | 76 | #1,869 | — | — |
| 1989 | 67 | #1,935 | — | — |
| 1988 | 66 | #1,882 | — | — |
| 1987 | 84 | #1,525 | — | — |
| 1986 | 75 | #1,596 | — | — |
| 1985 | 94 | #1,377 | — | — |
| 1984 | 90 | #1,346 | — | — |
| 1983 | 104 | #1,225 | — | — |
| 1982 | 92 | #1,349 | — | — |
| 1981 | 110 | #1,197 | — | — |
| 1980 | 82 | #1,477 | — | — |
| 1979 | 106 | #1,230 | — | — |
| 1978 | 105 | #1,197 | — | — |
| 1977 | 101 | #1,209 | — | — |
| 1976 | 93 | #1,219 | — | — |
| 1975 | 85 | #1,305 | — | — |
| 1974 | 101 | #1,146 | — | — |
| 1973 | 127 | #951 | — | — |
| 1972 | 106 | #1,080 | — | — |
| 1971 | 112 | #1,078 | — | — |
| 1970 | 132 | #964 | — | — |
| 1969 | 106 | #1,071 | — | — |
| 1968 | 133 | #894 | — | — |
| 1967 | 103 | #1,015 | — | — |
| 1966 | 126 | #899 | — | — |
| 1965 | 147 | #821 | — | — |
| 1964 | 166 | #814 | — | — |
| 1963 | 168 | #801 | — | — |
| 1962 | 165 | #814 | — | — |
| 1961 | 195 | #745 | — | — |
| 1960 | 169 | #787 | — | — |
| 1959 | 207 | #697 | — | — |
| 1958 | 216 | #674 | — | — |
| 1957 | 209 | #687 | — | — |
| 1956 | 238 | #621 | — | — |
| 1955 | 244 | #590 | — | — |
| 1954 | 250 | #562 | — | — |
| 1953 | 248 | #555 | — | — |
| 1952 | 270 | #514 | — | — |
| 1951 | 234 | #550 | — | — |
| 1950 | 266 | #494 | — | — |
| 1949 | 356 | #417 | — | — |
| 1948 | 323 | #444 | — | — |
| 1947 | 323 | #455 | — | — |
| 1946 | 301 | #446 | — | — |
| 1945 | 326 | #394 | — | — |
| 1944 | 328 | #390 | — | — |
| 1943 | 344 | #393 | — | — |
| 1942 | 371 | #365 | — | — |
| 1941 | 355 | #349 | — | — |
| 1940 | 335 | #352 | — | — |
| 1939 | 359 | #333 | — | — |
| 1938 | 384 | #320 | 6 | #3,371 |
| 1937 | 418 | #302 | — | — |
| 1936 | 407 | #301 | — | — |
| 1935 | 427 | #290 | — | — |
| 1934 | 466 | #284 | 5 | #3,971 |
| 1933 | 510 | #273 | 6 | #3,488 |
| 1932 | 504 | #276 | — | — |
| 1931 | 558 | #260 | — | — |
| 1930 | 586 | #259 | 5 | #4,315 |
| 1929 | 631 | #252 | 5 | #4,309 |
| 1928 | 659 | #243 | 6 | #3,954 |
| 1927 | 682 | #250 | 5 | #4,529 |
| 1926 | 721 | #244 | — | — |
| 1925 | 818 | #228 | — | — |
| 1924 | 863 | #223 | — | — |
| 1923 | 816 | #226 | 6 | #4,057 |
| 1922 | 865 | #220 | 7 | #3,715 |
| 1921 | 907 | #212 | — | — |
| 1920 | 878 | #218 | — | — |
| 1919 | 898 | #207 | 6 | #3,974 |
| 1918 | 896 | #209 | 6 | #3,966 |
| 1917 | 828 | #212 | — | — |
| 1916 | 888 | #199 | — | — |
| 1915 | 774 | #213 | — | — |
| 1914 | 647 | #202 | — | — |
| 1913 | 595 | #188 | — | — |
| 1912 | 523 | #184 | — | — |
| 1911 | 489 | #162 | — | — |
| 1910 | 469 | #161 | — | — |
| 1909 | 414 | #161 | — | — |
| 1908 | 411 | #161 | — | — |
| 1907 | 453 | #144 | — | — |
| 1906 | 447 | #138 | — | — |
| 1905 | 465 | #135 | — | — |
| 1904 | 431 | #135 | — | — |
| 1903 | 420 | #133 | — | — |
| 1902 | 459 | #125 | — | — |
| 1901 | 443 | #117 | — | — |
| 1900 | 530 | #122 | — | — |
| 1899 | 417 | #116 | — | — |
| 1898 | 459 | #115 | — | — |
| 1897 | 438 | #116 | — | — |
| 1896 | 425 | #113 | — | — |
| 1895 | 388 | #121 | — | — |
| 1894 | 413 | #113 | — | — |
| 1893 | 358 | #120 | — | — |
| 1892 | 353 | #124 | — | — |
| 1891 | 337 | #118 | — | — |
| 1890 | 304 | #129 | — | — |
| 1889 | 268 | #133 | — | — |
| 1888 | 292 | #127 | — | — |
| 1887 | 207 | #131 | — | — |
| 1886 | 230 | #123 | 5 | #1,047 |
| 1885 | 168 | #139 | — | — |
| 1884 | 213 | #120 | — | — |
| 1883 | 163 | #126 | — | — |
| 1882 | 143 | #127 | — | — |
| 1881 | 125 | #127 | — | — |
| 1880 | 106 | #142 | — | — |
About the data: counts are Social Security card applications for US births, for names given to at least five babies of a sex in a year (SSA, names.zip, public domain). Ranks follow SSA’s own order: most births first, ties alphabetical. Files retrieved 2026-10-05 (checksum on our sources page).