Nelia
Nelia was given to 14 girls in 2025, #7,785 among girls’ names; 1,580 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nelia by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nelia mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Nelia is “a female given name.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nelia?
#7,785 among girls’ names, 2025
Nelia fell from #5,613 in 2015 to #7,785 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 13.4 to 8.7 per million.
24 babies in 2015, the peak
Nelia peaked in 2015, when 24 girls were given it, #5,613 among girls’ names. The 14 births of 2025 are 58% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 14 | #7,785 | 0.01 |
| 2024 | 19 | #6,332 | 0.01 |
| 2023 | 13 | #8,367 | 0.01 |
| 2022 | 17 | #6,908 | 0.01 |
| 2021 | 9 | #10,882 | 0.01 |
| 2020 | 19 | #6,255 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 10 | #10,265 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 11 | #9,632 | 0.01 |
| 2017 | 22 | #5,771 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 16 | #7,507 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (141)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 24 | #5,613 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 15 | #7,956 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 19 | #6,653 | 0.01 |
| 2012 | 15 | #8,101 | 0.01 |
| 2011 | 14 | #8,507 | 0.01 |
| 2010 | 17 | #7,423 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 13 | #9,258 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 11 | #10,594 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 11 | #10,619 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 11 | #10,404 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 12 | #9,283 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 10 | #10,470 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 10 | #10,215 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 14 | #7,712 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 8 | #11,744 | under 0.01 |
| 2000 | 8 | #11,487 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 5 | #16,124 | under 0.01 |
| 1998 | 7 | #12,010 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 8 | #10,505 | under 0.01 |
| 1996 | 6 | #12,969 | under 0.01 |
| 1995 | 8 | #10,224 | under 0.01 |
| 1993 | 8 | #10,262 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 6 | #12,857 | under 0.01 |
| 1991 | 9 | #9,115 | under 0.01 |
| 1990 | 10 | #8,314 | 0.01 |
| 1989 | 8 | #9,370 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 8 | #8,249 | under 0.01 |
| 1985 | 9 | #7,366 | 0.01 |
| 1984 | 9 | #7,218 | 0.01 |
| 1983 | 10 | #6,554 | 0.01 |
| 1982 | 8 | #7,978 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 8 | #7,892 | under 0.01 |
| 1980 | 12 | #5,794 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 10 | #6,538 | 0.01 |
| 1978 | 14 | #4,854 | 0.01 |
| 1977 | 11 | #5,767 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 10 | #5,896 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 17 | #3,887 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 18 | #3,654 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 14 | #4,288 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 15 | #4,028 | 0.01 |
| 1971 | 10 | #5,393 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 19 | #3,395 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 12 | #4,351 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 15 | #3,559 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 7 | #5,644 | under 0.01 |
| 1965 | 6 | #6,298 | under 0.01 |
| 1964 | 8 | #5,325 | under 0.01 |
| 1963 | 13 | #3,752 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 13 | #3,724 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 8 | #5,165 | under 0.01 |
| 1960 | 5 | #7,032 | under 0.01 |
| 1959 | 10 | #4,224 | under 0.01 |
| 1958 | 8 | #4,787 | under 0.01 |
| 1957 | 16 | #3,001 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 12 | #3,641 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 15 | #3,056 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 12 | #3,446 | 0.01 |
| 1953 | 13 | #3,224 | 0.01 |
| 1952 | 7 | #4,798 | under 0.01 |
| 1951 | 5 | #5,987 | under 0.01 |
| 1950 | 15 | #2,742 | 0.01 |
| 1949 | 7 | #4,540 | under 0.01 |
| 1948 | 15 | #2,669 | 0.01 |
| 1947 | 12 | #3,176 | 0.01 |
| 1946 | 9 | #3,590 | 0.01 |
| 1945 | 9 | #3,318 | 0.01 |
| 1944 | 12 | #2,729 | 0.01 |
| 1943 | 11 | #2,984 | 0.01 |
| 1942 | 12 | #2,761 | 0.01 |
| 1941 | 13 | #2,500 | 0.01 |
| 1940 | 12 | #2,531 | 0.01 |
| 1939 | 11 | #2,700 | 0.01 |
| 1938 | 10 | #2,876 | 0.01 |
| 1937 | 16 | #2,073 | 0.02 |
| 1936 | 10 | #2,812 | 0.01 |
| 1935 | 12 | #2,535 | 0.01 |
| 1934 | 15 | #2,147 | 0.01 |
| 1933 | 17 | #1,952 | 0.02 |
| 1932 | 11 | #2,782 | 0.01 |
| 1931 | 7 | #3,752 | 0.01 |
| 1930 | 13 | #2,521 | 0.01 |
| 1929 | 9 | #3,315 | 0.01 |
| 1928 | 12 | #2,727 | 0.01 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,812 | 0.01 |
| 1926 | 12 | #2,832 | 0.01 |
| 1925 | 12 | #2,891 | 0.01 |
| 1924 | 17 | #2,285 | 0.01 |
| 1923 | 14 | #2,561 | 0.01 |
| 1922 | 10 | #3,307 | 0.01 |
| 1921 | 14 | #2,594 | 0.01 |
| 1920 | 21 | #1,933 | 0.02 |
| 1919 | 14 | #2,468 | 0.01 |
| 1918 | 14 | #2,472 | 0.01 |
| 1917 | 11 | #2,820 | 0.01 |
| 1916 | 15 | #2,209 | 0.01 |
| 1915 | 22 | #1,602 | 0.02 |
| 1914 | 13 | #1,981 | 0.02 |
| 1913 | 6 | #3,082 | 0.01 |
| 1912 | 5 | #3,302 | 0.01 |
| 1911 | 8 | #1,907 | 0.02 |
| 1910 | 11 | #1,486 | 0.03 |
| 1909 | 12 | #1,264 | 0.03 |
| 1908 | 10 | #1,410 | 0.03 |
| 1907 | 7 | #1,762 | 0.02 |
| 1906 | 5 | #2,149 | 0.02 |
| 1905 | 10 | #1,278 | 0.03 |
| 1904 | 7 | #1,609 | 0.03 |
| 1903 | 9 | #1,279 | 0.03 |
| 1902 | 14 | #960 | 0.05 |
| 1901 | 11 | #1,051 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 8 | #1,526 | 0.03 |
| 1899 | 6 | #1,532 | 0.03 |
| 1898 | 11 | #1,084 | 0.04 |
| 1897 | 6 | #1,501 | 0.03 |
| 1895 | 8 | #1,269 | 0.03 |
| 1894 | 10 | #1,046 | 0.04 |
| 1893 | 12 | #891 | 0.06 |
| 1892 | 11 | #947 | 0.05 |
| 1891 | 7 | #1,180 | 0.04 |
| 1890 | 9 | #986 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 10 | #887 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 17 | #625 | 0.10 |
| 1887 | 6 | #1,120 | 0.04 |
| 1886 | 6 | #1,071 | 0.04 |
| 1885 | 6 | #1,013 | 0.05 |
| 1884 | 13 | #608 | 0.10 |
| 1883 | 5 | #1,012 | 0.04 |
| 1882 | 8 | #719 | 0.07 |
| 1881 | 6 | #798 | 0.07 |
| 1880 | 5 | #909 | 0.05 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Nelia a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Nelia has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 141 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Nelia: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nelia, and how old are they?
An estimated 880 Americans named Nelia and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (56% of everyone recorded); the median is 40 years old and half are between 14 and 62. An estimate from SSA’s births and life tables, not a count.
The 2020 Census counted 3,315 people named Nelia (3,305 women and girls, 10 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 860 born in the U.S. The Census count is 3.9 times that prediction. Possible reasons: the Census counts people born abroad, whom SSA’s files leave out, and it records the name people give, which SSA may have recorded under another spelling or as part of a compound name.
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).
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 176,696 babies since 1880, Nelia is the fifth most given (<1% of them). In 2025 it was given to 14 of their 937 babies (1.5%), the seventh 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 Nelia
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 Nelia and names like it
- Compare Nelia and NellieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 2010sNelia peaked in 2015.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nelia since 1910.
- The top names of 2015The year the most babies were named Nelia.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Nelia alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with NMost given first.