How Many People Are Named Bela?
An estimated 1,058 people in the United States have the first name Bela. It is used for both genders, with 61.9% female. The average bearer is 23 years old, and Bela peaked in popularity in 2008 with 49 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Bela as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Bela paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- Bela has undergone a significant gender shift. Originally given predominantly to boys, it is now more commonly a girls' name.
- Bela is a genuinely unisex name, given to both boys and girls in roughly equal numbers.
Estimated Living Americans
1,058
About 1 in 323,964 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
61.9% confidence
Average Age
23
years old
Peak Year
2008
49 births
Total Registered
1,273
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Bela
Bela is a genuinely unisex name, used for both males (38.1%) and females (61.9%). Out of 1,273 total births registered, 485 were male and 788 were female.
Bela as a male name
Ranked #9,074 in 2022
8 male births in 2022
Peak: 1918 (14 births)
Bela as a female name
Ranked #4,561 in 2024
30 female births in 2024
Peak: 2010 (44 births)
Bela: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Bela span from the 1910s to the 2020s, covering 12 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 2000s, when 336 babies were registered. While Bela is less common than at its peak in the 2000s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Bela by Decade
How has Bela tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
Bela by State
Birth registrations for Bela span all 4 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in California, Texas, New York. The lowest are in Florida, New York, Texas. On average, about 35 Belas were registered per state.
Bela + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Bela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Bela
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
Bela: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bela?
We estimate approximately 1,058 people named Bela are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 323,964 Americans share this first name.
Is Bela a common name?
Bela is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 90.5% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 1,273 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Bela most popular?
Bela reached peak popularity in 2008, when 49 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Bela is approximately 23 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Bela a female name?
Bela is predominantly female. 61.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Bela Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Bela Smith, Bela Johnson, Bela Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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