Idella
Idella was given to 7 girls in 2025, #12,395 among girls’ names; 6,554 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 1,610 Americans named Idella and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (25% of everyone recorded); the median is 72 years old and half are between 57 and 81.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Idella by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
How popular is Idella?
#12,395 among girls’ names, 2025
Idella fell from #10,409 in 2015 to #12,395 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 5.6 to 4.4 per million.
168 babies in 1921, the peak
Idella peaked in 1921, when 168 girls were given it, #548 among girls’ names. The 7 births of 2025 are 4% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 7 | #12,395 | under 0.01 |
| 2024 | 5 | #16,207 | under 0.01 |
| 2023 | 8 | #11,579 | under 0.01 |
| 2022 | 7 | #12,737 | under 0.01 |
| 2021 | 8 | #11,508 | under 0.01 |
| 2020 | 14 | #7,706 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 5 | #16,459 | under 0.01 |
| 2018 | 9 | #10,890 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 13 | #8,478 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 10 | #10,380 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (136)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 10 | #10,409 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 7 | #13,608 | under 0.01 |
| 2013 | 9 | #11,354 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 11 | #9,965 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 5 | #17,796 | under 0.01 |
| 2010 | 5 | #18,014 | under 0.01 |
| 2009 | 6 | #15,958 | under 0.01 |
| 2008 | 5 | #18,560 | under 0.01 |
| 2007 | 5 | #18,673 | under 0.01 |
| 2005 | 6 | #15,195 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 8 | #10,700 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 5 | #14,317 | under 0.01 |
| 1994 | 8 | #9,888 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 5 | #14,309 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 8 | #9,645 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 6 | #11,908 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 9 | #8,280 | under 0.01 |
| 1988 | 10 | #7,324 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 12 | #6,054 | 0.01 |
| 1986 | 6 | #9,979 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 6 | #9,737 | under 0.01 |
| 1984 | 7 | #8,473 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 9 | #6,913 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 7 | #8,549 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 11 | #6,027 | 0.01 |
| 1980 | 10 | #6,460 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 13 | #5,199 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 15 | #4,516 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 7 | #7,821 | under 0.01 |
| 1976 | 5 | #9,822 | under 0.01 |
| 1975 | 13 | #4,680 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 12 | #4,821 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 13 | #4,446 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 19 | #3,318 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 14 | #4,181 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,348 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 13 | #4,035 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 28 | #2,322 | 0.02 |
| 1967 | 16 | #3,248 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 21 | #2,694 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 31 | #2,129 | 0.02 |
| 1964 | 22 | #2,702 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 19 | #2,903 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 34 | #2,001 | 0.02 |
| 1961 | 33 | #2,052 | 0.02 |
| 1960 | 37 | #1,861 | 0.02 |
| 1959 | 48 | #1,570 | 0.02 |
| 1958 | 42 | #1,663 | 0.02 |
| 1957 | 47 | #1,575 | 0.02 |
| 1956 | 38 | #1,726 | 0.02 |
| 1955 | 46 | #1,501 | 0.02 |
| 1954 | 57 | #1,323 | 0.03 |
| 1953 | 60 | #1,253 | 0.03 |
| 1952 | 65 | #1,178 | 0.04 |
| 1951 | 74 | #1,083 | 0.04 |
| 1950 | 71 | #1,093 | 0.04 |
| 1949 | 55 | #1,225 | 0.03 |
| 1948 | 70 | #1,055 | 0.04 |
| 1947 | 53 | #1,246 | 0.03 |
| 1946 | 63 | #1,073 | 0.04 |
| 1945 | 66 | #945 | 0.05 |
| 1944 | 51 | #1,093 | 0.04 |
| 1943 | 63 | #998 | 0.05 |
| 1942 | 75 | #907 | 0.06 |
| 1941 | 76 | #833 | 0.06 |
| 1940 | 76 | #817 | 0.07 |
| 1939 | 68 | #852 | 0.06 |
| 1938 | 72 | #834 | 0.07 |
| 1937 | 78 | #776 | 0.07 |
| 1936 | 89 | #708 | 0.09 |
| 1935 | 74 | #787 | 0.07 |
| 1934 | 97 | #679 | 0.09 |
| 1933 | 89 | #691 | 0.09 |
| 1932 | 81 | #750 | 0.08 |
| 1931 | 83 | #741 | 0.08 |
| 1930 | 119 | #637 | 0.11 |
| 1929 | 120 | #632 | 0.11 |
| 1928 | 109 | #670 | 0.09 |
| 1927 | 131 | #625 | 0.11 |
| 1926 | 150 | #580 | 0.13 |
| 1925 | 155 | #579 | 0.13 |
| 1924 | 144 | #627 | 0.12 |
| 1923 | 161 | #568 | 0.13 |
| 1922 | 164 | #558 | 0.14 |
| 1921 | 168 | #548 | 0.14 |
| 1920 | 158 | #573 | 0.13 |
| 1919 | 142 | #588 | 0.13 |
| 1918 | 164 | #551 | 0.14 |
| 1917 | 130 | #600 | 0.12 |
| 1916 | 146 | #554 | 0.14 |
| 1915 | 138 | #543 | 0.14 |
| 1914 | 118 | #516 | 0.15 |
| 1913 | 95 | #523 | 0.15 |
| 1912 | 90 | #507 | 0.16 |
| 1911 | 82 | #451 | 0.20 |
| 1910 | 81 | #443 | 0.20 |
| 1909 | 72 | #437 | 0.21 |
| 1908 | 66 | #446 | 0.20 |
| 1907 | 66 | #441 | 0.21 |
| 1906 | 60 | #443 | 0.20 |
| 1905 | 64 | #423 | 0.22 |
| 1904 | 51 | #457 | 0.19 |
| 1903 | 47 | #468 | 0.18 |
| 1902 | 48 | #456 | 0.18 |
| 1901 | 38 | #492 | 0.16 |
| 1900 | 60 | #430 | 0.20 |
| 1899 | 52 | #406 | 0.22 |
| 1898 | 53 | #425 | 0.20 |
| 1897 | 41 | #460 | 0.18 |
| 1896 | 51 | #398 | 0.21 |
| 1895 | 59 | #368 | 0.25 |
| 1894 | 36 | #467 | 0.16 |
| 1893 | 36 | #444 | 0.17 |
| 1892 | 36 | #455 | 0.17 |
| 1891 | 30 | #472 | 0.16 |
| 1890 | 29 | #486 | 0.15 |
| 1889 | 29 | #460 | 0.16 |
| 1888 | 28 | #472 | 0.16 |
| 1887 | 23 | #465 | 0.16 |
| 1886 | 17 | #545 | 0.12 |
| 1885 | 18 | #510 | 0.14 |
| 1884 | 22 | #430 | 0.17 |
| 1883 | 16 | #488 | 0.14 |
| 1882 | 12 | #546 | 0.11 |
| 1881 | 13 | #476 | 0.14 |
| 1880 | 23 | #335 | 0.25 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Idella a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Idella has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 136 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Idella: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Idella, and how old are they?
1,610 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 25% of the 6,554 Americans ever recorded as Idella. The median Idella alive today is 72 years old; half are between 57 and 81.
The 2020 Census counted 1,565 people named Idella (1,562 women and girls, 3 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,998 born in the U.S. The Census count is 22% below that prediction. Possible reasons: people who give a short form or another name to the Census, and a survival estimate that can run high.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 393 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 705 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 229 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 106 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 51 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 111 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Idella born?
The states with the most babies named Idella are Mississippi, Georgia and Florida, with 48% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Mississippi is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 540 | not ranked | 4.9× |
| Georgia | 426 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| Florida | 320 | not ranked | 3.5× |
| Alabama | 256 | not ranked | 1.7× |
| South Carolina | 234 | not ranked | 2.1× |
| Louisiana | 184 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Texas | 148 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Pennsylvania | 112 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Arkansas | 108 | not ranked | 1.2× |
| Tennessee | 93 | not ranked | 0.7× |
Where Idella is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Idella is most over-represented in Mississippi: since 1910 it was given 4.9 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Idella with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 4 names spelled alike, given to 10,768 babies since 1880, Idella is the most given (61% of them). In 2025 it was given to 7 of their 93 babies (7.5%), the second most given that year.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Idella
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Idella and names like it
- Compare Idella and IdaliaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sIdella peaked in 1921.
- Mississippi’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Idella since 1910.
- The top names of 1921The year the most babies were named Idella.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Idella alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with IMost given first.