Girls' name · peaked in 1897
Lela name popularity since 1925
21,427 babies born in the US from 1925 to 2025 were named Lela. Half of them were born in 1947 or earlier, so the typical Lela is about 79 years old in 2026. Lela peaked in 1897 as the #116 name for girls, and it was outside the top 1,000 in 2025.
Key facts
- US babies since 1925
- 21,427
- Named Lela, 1925–2025
- Peak year
- 1897
- #116 for girls that year
- In 2025
- Not top 1,000
- #2,374 for girls in 2025
- Girls / boys
- 99.8% girls
- 21,389 girls · 38 boys
- Most popular in
- Mississippi
- 5.35× its national share
Peak year is the year Lela made up the largest share of US girls, in records going back to 1880. Typical age is based on births from 1925 on, not on who is living today.
Lela births per year, 1925–2025
The biggest year on this chart was 1925. Measured as a share of all babies, Lela peaked earlier, in 1897.
- Steepest fall: Between 1949 and 1954, Lela's share of baby girls fell by 38%, from 1 in 4,810 to 1 in 7,770.
- Fastest rise: Between 2002 and 2007, it became 1.6× more common, from 1 in 17,000 baby girls to 1 in 10,900.
Shaded on the chart. Both compare Lela's share of all US girls five years apart, counting only years with at least 100 babies named Lela.
Decade by decade
Babies named Lela in each decade, and its rank among girls' names in the middle year of the decade (1935, 1945 … 2025).
| Decade | Girls | Boys | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1925–29 | 3,511 | 16 | – |
| 1930s | 4,619 | 22 | #290 |
| 1940s | 3,362 | 0 | #394 |
| 1950s | 2,382 | 0 | #590 |
| 1960s | 1,478 | 0 | #821 |
| 1970s | 1,068 | 0 | #1,305 |
| 1980s | 864 | 0 | #1,377 |
| 1990s | 687 | 0 | #2,326 |
| 2000s | 1,380 | 0 | #1,476 |
| 2010s | 1,467 | 0 | #1,530 |
| 2020–25 | 571 | 0 | #2,374 |
Ranks count every name given to at least 5 girls that year, so they can go past 1,000.
Generation fingerprint
37.3% of babies named Lela from 1925 to 2025 were born in the Silent Generation years (1928–1945). The full split by generation:
Where Lela is most popular
The index compares Lela's share of babies in each state with its share nationwide, 1925–2025 (1.50× = 50% more common). States with at least 300 babies named Lela.
| State | Index | Babies |
|---|---|---|
| Mississippi | 5.35× | 1,086 |
| Alabama | 3.76× | 1,114 |
| Arkansas | 3.65× | 628 |
| Oklahoma | 3.41× | 745 |
| Tennessee | 2.73× | 961 |
Other spellings
Spellings that sound like Lela and were given to at least 1,000 girls from 1925 to 2025, with the year each one was most popular.
| Spelling | Girls | Peak year |
|---|---|---|
| Lela (this page) | 21,389 | 1897 |
| Lelah | 1,067 | 1891 |
Names with a similar story
Of the other 1999 names on this site, these six had the share of babies closest in shape to Lela's from 1925 to 2025, however common each one got. Each line is scaled to its own high; the dashed line is Lela.
Names from the same era
Other common names that peaked within two years of Lela (1897).
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration national and state baby-name data, which covers names given to at least 5 babies of one sex in a year. About the data