Twila
Twila was given to 44 girls in 2025, #3,511 among girls’ names; 11,922 Americans have been recorded with it since 1890 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 6,640 Americans named Twila and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (56% of everyone recorded); the median is 64 years old and half are between 52 and 73.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Twila by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Twila mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Twila is “a female given name, variant of Twyla.”
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Twila?
#3,511 among girls’ names, 2025
Twila rose from #6,016 in 2015 to #3,511 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born rose from 12.3 to 27.4 per million.
304 babies in 1960, the peak
Twila peaked in 1960, when 304 girls were given it, #563 among girls’ names. The 44 births of 2025 are 14% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 44 | #3,511 | 0.03 |
| 2024 | 39 | #3,886 | 0.02 |
| 2023 | 29 | #4,732 | 0.02 |
| 2022 | 34 | #4,286 | 0.02 |
| 2021 | 25 | #5,222 | 0.02 |
| 2020 | 22 | #5,652 | 0.01 |
| 2019 | 23 | #5,597 | 0.01 |
| 2018 | 30 | #4,651 | 0.02 |
| 2017 | 21 | #6,021 | 0.01 |
| 2016 | 24 | #5,600 | 0.01 |
Every recorded year (134)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 girls |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 22 | #6,016 | 0.01 |
| 2014 | 23 | #5,782 | 0.01 |
| 2013 | 27 | #5,135 | 0.02 |
| 2012 | 7 | #14,864 | under 0.01 |
| 2011 | 28 | #5,051 | 0.02 |
| 2010 | 16 | #7,856 | 0.01 |
| 2009 | 19 | #7,037 | 0.01 |
| 2008 | 11 | #10,756 | 0.01 |
| 2007 | 25 | #5,691 | 0.01 |
| 2006 | 12 | #9,869 | 0.01 |
| 2005 | 23 | #5,588 | 0.01 |
| 2004 | 20 | #6,197 | 0.01 |
| 2003 | 21 | #5,781 | 0.01 |
| 2002 | 15 | #7,415 | 0.01 |
| 2001 | 16 | #6,939 | 0.01 |
| 2000 | 19 | #5,922 | 0.01 |
| 1999 | 20 | #5,409 | 0.01 |
| 1998 | 21 | #5,109 | 0.01 |
| 1997 | 29 | #3,889 | 0.02 |
| 1996 | 12 | #7,548 | 0.01 |
| 1995 | 16 | #5,934 | 0.01 |
| 1994 | 14 | #6,640 | 0.01 |
| 1993 | 18 | #5,409 | 0.01 |
| 1992 | 32 | #3,494 | 0.02 |
| 1991 | 17 | #5,648 | 0.01 |
| 1990 | 29 | #3,703 | 0.02 |
| 1989 | 26 | #3,885 | 0.01 |
| 1988 | 25 | #3,793 | 0.01 |
| 1987 | 27 | #3,415 | 0.02 |
| 1986 | 25 | #3,549 | 0.01 |
| 1985 | 43 | #2,358 | 0.02 |
| 1984 | 40 | #2,418 | 0.02 |
| 1983 | 60 | #1,795 | 0.04 |
| 1982 | 47 | #2,184 | 0.03 |
| 1981 | 53 | #2,008 | 0.03 |
| 1980 | 71 | #1,642 | 0.04 |
| 1979 | 72 | #1,595 | 0.04 |
| 1978 | 68 | #1,596 | 0.04 |
| 1977 | 81 | #1,403 | 0.05 |
| 1976 | 78 | #1,383 | 0.05 |
| 1975 | 107 | #1,099 | 0.07 |
| 1974 | 101 | #1,150 | 0.07 |
| 1973 | 95 | #1,159 | 0.07 |
| 1972 | 108 | #1,072 | 0.07 |
| 1971 | 124 | #1,009 | 0.07 |
| 1970 | 147 | #902 | 0.08 |
| 1969 | 132 | #928 | 0.08 |
| 1968 | 139 | #874 | 0.08 |
| 1967 | 137 | #871 | 0.08 |
| 1966 | 157 | #789 | 0.09 |
| 1965 | 163 | #779 | 0.09 |
| 1964 | 210 | #716 | 0.11 |
| 1963 | 229 | #668 | 0.12 |
| 1962 | 226 | #688 | 0.11 |
| 1961 | 252 | #644 | 0.12 |
| 1960 | 304 | #563 | 0.15 |
| 1959 | 241 | #644 | 0.12 |
| 1958 | 283 | #591 | 0.14 |
| 1957 | 213 | #676 | 0.10 |
| 1956 | 211 | #659 | 0.11 |
| 1955 | 205 | #654 | 0.10 |
| 1954 | 178 | #697 | 0.09 |
| 1953 | 196 | #637 | 0.10 |
| 1952 | 173 | #676 | 0.09 |
| 1951 | 177 | #654 | 0.10 |
| 1950 | 149 | #706 | 0.09 |
| 1949 | 167 | #642 | 0.10 |
| 1948 | 170 | #637 | 0.10 |
| 1947 | 160 | #666 | 0.09 |
| 1946 | 159 | #627 | 0.10 |
| 1945 | 129 | #645 | 0.10 |
| 1944 | 125 | #662 | 0.09 |
| 1943 | 122 | #690 | 0.09 |
| 1942 | 144 | #627 | 0.11 |
| 1941 | 143 | #588 | 0.12 |
| 1940 | 146 | #580 | 0.13 |
| 1939 | 143 | #564 | 0.13 |
| 1938 | 173 | #510 | 0.16 |
| 1937 | 149 | #550 | 0.14 |
| 1936 | 170 | #495 | 0.16 |
| 1935 | 164 | #494 | 0.16 |
| 1934 | 195 | #464 | 0.19 |
| 1933 | 189 | #473 | 0.19 |
| 1932 | 165 | #509 | 0.15 |
| 1931 | 184 | #473 | 0.17 |
| 1930 | 166 | #528 | 0.15 |
| 1929 | 146 | #569 | 0.13 |
| 1928 | 182 | #515 | 0.16 |
| 1927 | 188 | #513 | 0.16 |
| 1926 | 183 | #515 | 0.15 |
| 1925 | 142 | #615 | 0.12 |
| 1924 | 160 | #582 | 0.13 |
| 1923 | 164 | #565 | 0.14 |
| 1922 | 149 | #591 | 0.12 |
| 1921 | 135 | #640 | 0.11 |
| 1920 | 135 | #615 | 0.11 |
| 1919 | 108 | #676 | 0.10 |
| 1918 | 117 | #658 | 0.10 |
| 1917 | 110 | #652 | 0.10 |
| 1916 | 89 | #726 | 0.09 |
| 1915 | 106 | #643 | 0.11 |
| 1914 | 64 | #723 | 0.08 |
| 1913 | 42 | #821 | 0.07 |
| 1912 | 44 | #762 | 0.08 |
| 1911 | 17 | #1,107 | 0.04 |
| 1910 | 18 | #1,063 | 0.05 |
| 1909 | 21 | #906 | 0.06 |
| 1908 | 22 | #847 | 0.07 |
| 1907 | 21 | #836 | 0.07 |
| 1906 | 17 | #914 | 0.06 |
| 1905 | 27 | #698 | 0.09 |
| 1904 | 17 | #906 | 0.06 |
| 1903 | 18 | #834 | 0.07 |
| 1902 | 14 | #967 | 0.05 |
| 1901 | 14 | #915 | 0.06 |
| 1900 | 16 | #964 | 0.05 |
| 1899 | 18 | #787 | 0.08 |
| 1898 | 18 | #816 | 0.07 |
| 1897 | 9 | #1,162 | 0.04 |
| 1896 | 13 | #946 | 0.05 |
| 1895 | 13 | #925 | 0.06 |
| 1894 | 10 | #1,054 | 0.04 |
| 1891 | 10 | #939 | 0.05 |
| 1890 | 6 | #1,330 | 0.03 |
Ranks and shares: girls’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all girls SSA recorded that year.
Is Twila a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Twila has been recorded only for girls: SSA lists no boys with the name in 134 years of records (it lists a name only in years with 5 or more babies of a sex).
Girls and boys named Twila: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Twila, and how old are they?
6,640 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 56% of the 11,922 Americans ever recorded as Twila. The median Twila alive today is 64 years old; half are between 52 and 73.
The 2020 Census counted 6,890 people named Twila (6,886 women and girls, 4 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 7,370 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 787 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 3,070 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 1,640 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 469 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 299 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 361 |
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 Twila born?
The states with the most babies named Twila are Pennsylvania, Ohio and Kansas, with 40% of its births recorded by state since 1910; Kansas is not among the ten states with the most births.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| Pennsylvania | 1,261 | #1,381 | 1.6× |
| Ohio | 977 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Kansas | 767 | not ranked | 5.1× |
| Nebraska | 491 | not ranked | 4.3× |
| Texas | 468 | not ranked | 0.7× |
| Oklahoma | 427 | not ranked | 2.2× |
| West Virginia | 404 | not ranked | 2.5× |
| California | 403 | not ranked | 0.5× |
| Missouri | 384 | not ranked | 1.3× |
| Iowa | 321 | not ranked | 1.6× |
Where Twila is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Twila is most over-represented in Kansas: since 1910 it was given 5.1 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 Twila 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 7 names spelled alike, given to 20,910 babies since 1880, Twila is the most given (57% of them). In 2025 it was given to 44 of their 100 babies (44%), 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 Twila
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 Twila and names like it
- Compare Twila and TwylaBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1960sTwila peaked in 1960.
- Pennsylvania’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Twila since 1910.
- The top names of 1960The year the most babies were named Twila.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Twila alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with TMost given first.