Meaning not yet researched.
Zella: US girls given the name each year, 1880 to 2025, from Social Security card applications. 117 in 2025. Its best rank was #220 in 1888.
US births per year · SSA card applications
Peaked at #220 in 1888; #1,746 in 2025. Every baby recorded as Zella in 2025 was a girl.
Baby name · US data 1880–2025
#1,746 for US girls in 2025. Its best year was 1888, at #220.
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.
Zella: US girls given the name each year from 1880 to 2025. 117 girls in 2025. Peak: #220 in 1888 · most girls in one year: 298 (1917).
In 2025, 117 US girls were named Zella, making it the 1,746th most common girls’ name of the year, up 105 places from #1,851 in 2024. That is 8 more than the 109 girls named Zella in 2024. Its best rank for girls was #220, reached in 1888. The most girls given the name in a single year was 298, in 1917. For comparison, it was #1,469 in 2015 and #958 in 1950.
Social Security card records list Zella in 138 years of the 146 from 1880 to 2025, starting in 1880 with 31 babies. In all, 13,369 US babies have been given the name, all of them girls. Its busiest decade was the 1920s, with 2,287 babies named Zella.
Over the 10 years from 2016 to 2025, 1,464 US girls were named Zella; the busiest of those years was 2021, with 183. In 2025 that was about 1 in 13,737 of the girls in SSA’s list for the year.
Among the states, Zella ranked highest in Arkansas in 2025, at #554 for girls there. It was not in the top 100 of any state. Related spellings in the SSA files include Zyla (2,545 babies since 1880), Ceola (2,185 babies since 1880) and Sela (1,328 babies since 1880). Rarer spellings such as Zeola, Zillah and Zilla are summarised on this page.
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.
Wikidata records this spelling as a given name in English. That is where the name is used, not necessarily where it comes from.
Rare spellings summarised here: Zeola (561), Zillah (552), Zilla (288), Ciella (165), Cella (157), Zelaya (125), Zila (89), Zeila (74), Zeyla (70), Ziyla (43), Zyllah (34), Siella (18), and more.
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 Zella 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 41 are not listed.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank 2025 | Rank 2015 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas | 6 | #554 | — |
| Tennessee | 8 | #887 | — |
| Washington | 7 | #913 | #1,108 |
| Missouri | 6 | #925 | #838 |
| Wisconsin | 5 | #926 | — |
| Ohio | 9 | #1,033 | #738 |
| Pennsylvania | 7 | #1,230 | — |
| North Carolina | 6 | #1,435 | #1,586 |
| California | 10 | #2,091 | #1,816 |
| Texas | 8 | #2,631 | #2,362 |
Births and national rank for each year SSA lists the name, newest first.
| Year | Girls | Girls rank | Boys | Boys rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 117 | #1,746 | — | — |
| 2024 | 109 | #1,851 | — | — |
| 2023 | 131 | #1,601 | — | — |
| 2022 | 156 | #1,442 | — | — |
| 2021 | 183 | #1,271 | — | — |
| 2020 | 124 | #1,667 | — | — |
| 2019 | 162 | #1,391 | — | — |
| 2018 | 166 | #1,366 | — | — |
| 2017 | 160 | #1,431 | — | — |
| 2016 | 156 | #1,479 | — | — |
| 2015 | 157 | #1,469 | — | — |
| 2014 | 84 | #2,255 | — | — |
| 2013 | 102 | #1,952 | — | — |
| 2012 | 92 | #2,094 | — | — |
| 2011 | 90 | #2,142 | — | — |
| 2010 | 71 | #2,588 | — | — |
| 2009 | 60 | #2,938 | — | — |
| 2008 | 53 | #3,221 | — | — |
| 2007 | 48 | #3,480 | — | — |
| 2006 | 40 | #3,853 | — | — |
| 2005 | 35 | #4,115 | — | — |
| 2004 | 34 | #4,171 | — | — |
| 2003 | 17 | #6,882 | — | — |
| 2002 | 15 | #7,439 | — | — |
| 2001 | 16 | #6,952 | — | — |
| 2000 | 16 | #6,805 | — | — |
| 1999 | 8 | #11,375 | — | — |
| 1998 | 7 | #12,416 | — | — |
| 1997 | 6 | #13,713 | — | — |
| 1996 | 5 | #15,881 | — | — |
| 1995 | 7 | #11,775 | — | — |
| 1994 | 8 | #10,565 | — | — |
| 1992 | 9 | #9,488 | — | — |
| 1991 | 5 | #15,457 | — | — |
| 1988 | 6 | #11,795 | — | — |
| 1986 | 5 | #12,830 | — | — |
| 1985 | 5 | #12,499 | — | — |
| 1984 | 7 | #9,142 | — | — |
| 1982 | 9 | #7,468 | — | — |
| 1981 | 11 | #6,321 | — | — |
| 1980 | 6 | #10,390 | — | — |
| 1979 | 5 | #11,969 | — | — |
| 1975 | 15 | #4,368 | — | — |
| 1974 | 14 | #4,455 | — | — |
| 1973 | 11 | #5,188 | — | — |
| 1972 | 20 | #3,274 | — | — |
| 1971 | 11 | #5,131 | — | — |
| 1970 | 14 | #4,244 | — | — |
| 1969 | 18 | #3,317 | — | — |
| 1968 | 23 | #2,707 | — | — |
| 1967 | 20 | #2,867 | — | — |
| 1966 | 18 | #3,038 | — | — |
| 1965 | 35 | #1,992 | — | — |
| 1964 | 27 | #2,411 | — | — |
| 1963 | 41 | #1,837 | — | — |
| 1962 | 41 | #1,806 | — | — |
| 1961 | 56 | #1,519 | — | — |
| 1960 | 37 | #1,885 | — | — |
| 1959 | 45 | #1,642 | — | — |
| 1958 | 44 | #1,629 | — | — |
| 1957 | 39 | #1,753 | — | — |
| 1956 | 54 | #1,452 | — | — |
| 1955 | 50 | #1,444 | — | — |
| 1954 | 48 | #1,464 | — | — |
| 1953 | 60 | #1,260 | — | — |
| 1952 | 67 | #1,170 | — | — |
| 1951 | 75 | #1,077 | — | — |
| 1950 | 89 | #958 | — | — |
| 1949 | 83 | #991 | — | — |
| 1948 | 92 | #909 | — | — |
| 1947 | 99 | #891 | — | — |
| 1946 | 80 | #935 | — | — |
| 1945 | 98 | #761 | — | — |
| 1944 | 81 | #849 | — | — |
| 1943 | 113 | #730 | — | — |
| 1942 | 86 | #828 | — | — |
| 1941 | 78 | #820 | — | — |
| 1940 | 114 | #656 | — | — |
| 1939 | 113 | #647 | — | — |
| 1938 | 119 | #632 | — | — |
| 1937 | 110 | #651 | — | — |
| 1936 | 112 | #626 | — | — |
| 1935 | 131 | #560 | — | — |
| 1934 | 137 | #553 | — | — |
| 1933 | 151 | #520 | — | — |
| 1932 | 158 | #523 | — | — |
| 1931 | 159 | #523 | — | — |
| 1930 | 184 | #493 | — | — |
| 1929 | 179 | #506 | — | — |
| 1928 | 213 | #470 | — | — |
| 1927 | 190 | #511 | — | — |
| 1926 | 216 | #472 | — | — |
| 1925 | 228 | #458 | — | — |
| 1924 | 235 | #454 | — | — |
| 1923 | 267 | #408 | — | — |
| 1922 | 235 | #442 | — | — |
| 1921 | 280 | #406 | — | — |
| 1920 | 244 | #429 | — | — |
| 1919 | 255 | #405 | — | — |
| 1918 | 244 | #424 | — | — |
| 1917 | 298 | #365 | — | — |
| 1916 | 248 | #399 | — | — |
| 1915 | 265 | #371 | — | — |
| 1914 | 224 | #356 | — | — |
| 1913 | 199 | #343 | — | — |
| 1912 | 186 | #335 | — | — |
| 1911 | 144 | #330 | — | — |
| 1910 | 151 | #313 | — | — |
| 1909 | 131 | #317 | — | — |
| 1908 | 125 | #315 | — | — |
| 1907 | 123 | #315 | — | — |
| 1906 | 108 | #324 | — | — |
| 1905 | 110 | #323 | — | — |
| 1904 | 126 | #283 | — | — |
| 1903 | 132 | #270 | — | — |
| 1902 | 124 | #283 | — | — |
| 1901 | 122 | #268 | — | — |
| 1900 | 171 | #247 | — | — |
| 1899 | 102 | #293 | — | — |
| 1898 | 115 | #286 | — | — |
| 1897 | 128 | #252 | — | — |
| 1896 | 130 | #250 | — | — |
| 1895 | 137 | #235 | — | — |
| 1894 | 138 | #226 | — | — |
| 1893 | 109 | #253 | — | — |
| 1892 | 102 | #263 | — | — |
| 1891 | 115 | #226 | — | — |
| 1890 | 108 | #236 | — | — |
| 1889 | 96 | #239 | — | — |
| 1888 | 111 | #220 | — | — |
| 1887 | 67 | #258 | — | — |
| 1886 | 72 | #244 | — | — |
| 1885 | 56 | #265 | — | — |
| 1884 | 63 | #244 | — | — |
| 1883 | 55 | #243 | — | — |
| 1882 | 50 | #246 | — | — |
| 1881 | 38 | #267 | — | — |
| 1880 | 31 | #281 | — | — |
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).