How Many People Are Named Zella?
An estimated 3,801 people in the United States have the first name Zella. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 36 years old, and Zella peaked in popularity in 1917 with 298 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Zella 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 Zella paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
3,801
About 1 in 90,175 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
36
years old
Peak Year
1917
298 births
Total Registered
13,250
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Zella
Zella is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 13,250 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Zella as a female name
Ranked #1,858 in 2024
108 female births in 2024
Peak: 1917 (298 births)
Zella: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Zella span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 2,287 babies were registered. While Zella is less common than at its peak in the 1920s, it remains a well-established name with steady registrations.
Zella by Decade
How has Zella 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.
Zella by State
Birth registrations for Zella span all 35 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Kentucky, Texas, Missouri. The lowest are in Wyoming, New Mexico, Minnesota. On average, about 178 Zellas were registered per state.
Zella + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Zella as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Zella
Other first names starting with Z with a similar number of bearers.
Zella: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Zella?
We estimate approximately 3,801 people named Zella 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 90,175 Americans share this first name.
Is Zella a common name?
Zella is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 95.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 13,250 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Zella most popular?
Zella reached peak popularity in 1917, when 298 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Zella is approximately 36 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Zella a female name?
Zella is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Zella Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Zella Smith, Zella Johnson, Zella 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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