How Many People Are Named Lela?
An estimated 11,134 people in the United States have the first name Lela. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 51 years old, and Lela peaked in popularity in 1921 with 907 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Lela 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 Lela paired with any surname.
Key Insights
- While Lela is overwhelmingly female, 68 male births have been registered with this name since 1880.
Estimated Living Americans
11,134
About 1 in 30,784 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Uncommon
Predicted Gender
Female
99.8% confidence
Average Age
51
years old
Peak Year
1921
907 births
Total Registered
42,994
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Lela
Lela is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 42,994 total births registered, 99.8% were female.
Lela as a male name
Ranked #3,372 in 1938
6 male births in 1938
Peak: 1922 (7 births)
Lela as a female name
Ranked #2,200 in 2024
86 female births in 2024
Peak: 1921 (907 births)
Lela: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Lela span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 7,869 babies were registered. Lela has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Lela by Decade
How has Lela 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.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,920 | 5 | 1,915 | |
| 1890s | 3,892 | 0 | 3,892 | |
| 1900s | 4,473 | 0 | 4,473 | |
| 1910s | 7,019 | 12 | 7,007 | |
| 1920s | 7,869 | 29 | 7,840 | |
| 1930s | 4,641 | 22 | 4,619 | |
| 1940s | 3,362 | 0 | 3,362 | |
| 1950s | 2,382 | 0 | 2,382 | |
| 1960s | 1,478 | 0 | 1,478 | |
| 1970s | 1,068 | 0 | 1,068 | |
| 1980s | 864 | 0 | 864 | |
| 1990s | 687 | 0 | 687 | |
| 2000s | 1,379 | 0 | 1,379 | |
| 2010s | 1,465 | 0 | 1,465 | |
| 2020s | 495 | 0 | 495 | |
Lela by State
Birth registrations for Lela span all 42 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, Alabama, North Carolina. The lowest are in Nevada, North Dakota, District of Columbia. On average, about 654 Lelas were registered per state.
Lela + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Lela as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Lela
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
Lela: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lela?
We estimate approximately 11,134 people named Lela 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 30,784 Americans share this first name.
Is Lela a common name?
Lela is classified as "Uncommon" and is more popular than 97.8% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 42,994 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Lela most popular?
Lela reached peak popularity in 1921, when 907 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Lela is approximately 51 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Lela a female name?
Lela is predominantly female. 99.8% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Lela Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Lela Smith, Lela Johnson, Lela 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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