Nella
Nella was given to 60 girls in 2025, #2,852 among girls’ names; 4,374 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 2,050 Americans named Nella and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (47% of everyone recorded); the median is 17 years old and half are between 8 and 71.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Nella by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Nella mean?
Wiktionary, Finnish section
Nella is “a female given name”
A diminutive/shortened form of any number of names like Latin Petronella, German Cornelia and Italian Antonella.
/ˈnelːɑ/
Meaning: Wiktionary, Finnish section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Nella?
#2,852 among girls’ names, 2025
Nella rose from #2,920 in 2015 to #2,852 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 33.6 to 37.3 per million.
81 babies in 1927, the peak
Nella peaked in 1927, when 81 girls were given it, #813 among girls’ names. The 60 births of 2025 are 74% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 60 | #2,852 | 0.04 |
| 2024 | 61 | #2,791 | 0.04 |
| 2023 | 61 | #2,813 | 0.04 |
| 2022 | 81 | #2,311 | 0.05 |
| 2021 | 72 | #2,477 | 0.04 |
| 2020 | 66 | #2,590 | 0.04 |
| 2019 | 74 | #2,419 | 0.04 |
| 2018 | 80 | #2,291 | 0.05 |
| 2017 | 75 | #2,419 | 0.04 |
| 2016 | 58 | #2,928 | 0.03 |
Every recorded year (131)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 60 | #2,920 | 0.03 |
| 2014 | 63 | #2,769 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 51 | #3,209 | 0.03 |
| 2012 | 58 | #2,967 | 0.03 |
| 2011 | 39 | #3,893 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 39 | #3,936 | 0.02 |
| 2009 | 48 | #3,445 | 0.03 |
| 2008 | 32 | #4,732 | 0.02 |
| 2007 | 22 | #6,259 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 25 | #5,504 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 12 | #9,284 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 15 | #7,717 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 12 | #8,669 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 6 | #14,808 | under 0.01 |
| 1999 | 5 | #16,125 | under 0.01 |
| 1997 | 7 | #11,716 | under 0.01 |
| 1992 | 6 | #12,859 | under 0.01 |
| 1989 | 7 | #10,495 | under 0.01 |
| 1986 | 5 | #12,204 | under 0.01 |
| 1983 | 5 | #11,431 | under 0.01 |
| 1982 | 5 | #11,711 | under 0.01 |
| 1981 | 9 | #7,188 | 0.01 |
| 1979 | 7 | #8,674 | under 0.01 |
| 1978 | 10 | #6,251 | 0.01 |
| 1976 | 15 | #4,278 | 0.01 |
| 1975 | 10 | #5,834 | 0.01 |
| 1974 | 12 | #4,928 | 0.01 |
| 1973 | 9 | #5,899 | 0.01 |
| 1972 | 5 | #9,165 | under 0.01 |
| 1971 | 10 | #5,394 | 0.01 |
| 1970 | 11 | #4,973 | 0.01 |
| 1969 | 17 | #3,419 | 0.01 |
| 1968 | 11 | #4,411 | 0.01 |
| 1967 | 16 | #3,288 | 0.01 |
| 1966 | 14 | #3,491 | 0.01 |
| 1965 | 18 | #3,016 | 0.01 |
| 1964 | 25 | #2,513 | 0.01 |
| 1963 | 12 | #3,962 | 0.01 |
| 1962 | 25 | #2,446 | 0.01 |
| 1961 | 20 | #2,809 | 0.01 |
| 1960 | 25 | #2,413 | 0.01 |
| 1959 | 19 | #2,728 | 0.01 |
| 1958 | 24 | #2,362 | 0.01 |
| 1957 | 22 | #2,472 | 0.01 |
| 1956 | 25 | #2,232 | 0.01 |
| 1955 | 23 | #2,321 | 0.01 |
| 1954 | 32 | #1,865 | 0.02 |
| 1953 | 33 | #1,752 | 0.02 |
| 1952 | 37 | #1,601 | 0.02 |
| 1951 | 39 | #1,514 | 0.02 |
| 1950 | 31 | #1,705 | 0.02 |
| 1949 | 41 | #1,444 | 0.02 |
| 1948 | 28 | #1,809 | 0.02 |
| 1947 | 38 | #1,535 | 0.02 |
| 1946 | 38 | #1,432 | 0.02 |
| 1945 | 33 | #1,411 | 0.03 |
| 1944 | 38 | #1,301 | 0.03 |
| 1943 | 43 | #1,244 | 0.03 |
| 1942 | 38 | #1,318 | 0.03 |
| 1941 | 54 | #999 | 0.04 |
| 1940 | 61 | #922 | 0.05 |
| 1939 | 46 | #1,061 | 0.04 |
| 1938 | 52 | #988 | 0.05 |
| 1937 | 68 | #839 | 0.06 |
| 1936 | 65 | #844 | 0.06 |
| 1935 | 59 | #900 | 0.06 |
| 1934 | 81 | #744 | 0.08 |
| 1933 | 58 | #890 | 0.06 |
| 1932 | 66 | #860 | 0.06 |
| 1931 | 56 | #929 | 0.05 |
| 1930 | 68 | #877 | 0.06 |
| 1929 | 48 | #1,060 | 0.04 |
| 1928 | 57 | #990 | 0.05 |
| 1927 | 81 | #813 | 0.07 |
| 1926 | 58 | #985 | 0.05 |
| 1925 | 74 | #868 | 0.06 |
| 1924 | 70 | #912 | 0.06 |
| 1923 | 58 | #984 | 0.05 |
| 1922 | 74 | #858 | 0.06 |
| 1921 | 79 | #834 | 0.06 |
| 1920 | 57 | #976 | 0.05 |
| 1919 | 61 | #907 | 0.05 |
| 1918 | 74 | #838 | 0.06 |
| 1917 | 47 | #1,035 | 0.04 |
| 1916 | 57 | #900 | 0.05 |
| 1915 | 48 | #963 | 0.05 |
| 1914 | 44 | #885 | 0.06 |
| 1913 | 36 | #895 | 0.06 |
| 1912 | 44 | #761 | 0.08 |
| 1911 | 18 | #1,061 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 34 | #734 | 0.09 |
| 1909 | 18 | #987 | 0.05 |
| 1908 | 26 | #764 | 0.08 |
| 1907 | 22 | #810 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 12 | #1,138 | 0.04 |
| 1905 | 22 | #795 | 0.08 |
| 1904 | 14 | #988 | 0.05 |
| 1903 | 20 | #783 | 0.08 |
| 1902 | 15 | #928 | 0.06 |
| 1901 | 13 | #950 | 0.05 |
| 1900 | 14 | #1,045 | 0.05 |
| 1899 | 10 | #1,078 | 0.04 |
| 1898 | 11 | #1,085 | 0.04 |
| 1897 | 17 | #783 | 0.07 |
| 1896 | 14 | #895 | 0.06 |
| 1895 | 18 | #760 | 0.08 |
| 1894 | 19 | #695 | 0.09 |
| 1893 | 16 | #756 | 0.08 |
| 1892 | 18 | #702 | 0.08 |
| 1891 | 15 | #721 | 0.08 |
| 1890 | 9 | #987 | 0.05 |
| 1889 | 10 | #888 | 0.06 |
| 1888 | 17 | #626 | 0.10 |
| 1887 | 12 | #682 | 0.08 |
| 1886 | 11 | #721 | 0.08 |
| 1885 | 10 | #729 | 0.08 |
| 1884 | 19 | #474 | 0.15 |
| 1883 | 6 | #892 | 0.05 |
| 1882 | 11 | #591 | 0.10 |
| 1881 | 19 | #387 | 0.21 |
| 1880 | 10 | #570 | 0.11 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Nella a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Nella has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 131 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Nella: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Nella, and how old are they?
2,050 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 47% of the 4,374 Americans ever recorded as Nella. The median Nella alive today is 17 years old; half are between 8 and 71.
The 2020 Census counted 2,390 people named Nella (2,376 women and girls, 14 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 1,931 born in the U.S. The Census count is 24% above 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.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 269 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 407 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 152 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 36 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 317 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 857 |
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 Nella born?
The states with the most babies named Nella are Kentucky, Texas and Alabama, with 49% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kentucky and Alabama are not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kentucky | 247 | not ranked | 2.8× |
| Texas | 159 | not ranked | 0.6× |
| Alabama | 135 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 95 | #2,699 | 0.3× |
| Illinois | 88 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Tennessee | 82 | not ranked | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 50 | #1,180 | 0.3× |
| New York | 40 | not ranked | 0.1× |
| Georgia | 33 | not ranked | 0.3× |
| Louisiana | 24 | not ranked | 0.3× |
Where Nella is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Nella is most over-represented in Kentucky: since 1910 it was given 2.8 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 Nella 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 8 names spelled alike, given to 178,312 babies since 1880, Nella is the fourth most given (2.5% of them). In 2025 it was given to 60 of their 972 babies (6.2%), the third 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 Nella
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 Nella and names like it
- Compare Nella and NellieBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sNella peaked in 1927.
- Kentucky’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Nella since 1910.
- Finnish namesWiktionary’s origin for Nella: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1927The year the most babies were named Nella.
- The names of Generation AlphaMost people named Nella alive today were born 2013-2025.
- Names starting with NMost given first.