girl's name

Nela

  • Gender Girl
  • Syllables 2
  • Letters 4
  • Popularity Rare
  • Births on record 1,978

Northern Ireland

#333

2019 births

Nela is a girl's name with 2 syllables. In 2025 it was given to 12 babies in the United States. It is a rare choice.

  • Peaked in England and Wales in 2019, when 79 babies were given the name.
  • It has been rising over the past decade in England and Wales.
  • Today about 1 in 11,710 babies in England and Wales is given this name.
  • First appears in birth records in 2005.
  • 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.

Nela over time

Births per decade in England and Wales, 2000s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.

476
'00 '10 '20
Show the numbers
Births named Nela by decade in England and Wales
Decade Births
2000s 52
2010s 476
2020s (to 2025) 334

How popular is Nela?

In 2025, Nela was given to 45 babies in England and Wales, ranking #814 that year. It is a rare choice.

Where Nela is used

Northern Ireland #333 5 in 2019
Ireland #709 5 in 2025
Scotland #777 4 in 2024
England & Wales #814 45 in 2025
Canada #2,212 10 in 2023
France as Néla #4,038 10 in 2025
United States #8,809 12 in 2025

The bar shows how near the top of each country's list the name sits, on a scale where #1 fills the row and #1,000 is a sliver. The figures beside it are the real rank and the babies recorded that year.

Figures for England and Wales withhold any name given to fewer than three babies in a year, so a gap means the name fell below that floor rather than went unused. Data & sources.

How Nela is spelled

Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.

Spelling What it is Births on record
Néla Néla is a rare spelling of Nela, written with an acute accent and recorded about 35 times, mostly in France. 35

Names that peaked alongside Nela

These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.

Parents who like Nela also like

Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Nela over the last century — the same taste, a different name.

Nela in other languages

The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.

Czech
Antonie
Danish
Antonie
Estonian
Nelli
German
Antonie
Icelandic
Nella
Italian
Manuela
Low German
Nele
Norwegian
Antonie
Polish
Manuela
Russian
Nelli
Spanish
Manuela
Swedish
Antonie
Other forms
Forms we hold no single language for — some are used across several, some are simply spelled differently.
Antonela

Sibling names for Nela

Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Nela — the two things that make a sibling set grate.

Common questions about Nela

How popular is the name Nela?

In 2025, Nela was given to 45 babies in England and Wales, ranking #814 that year. It is a rare choice.

Is Nela a girl's or a boy's name?

Nela is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.

How many syllables are in Nela?

Nela has 2 syllables.

When was Nela most popular?

Nela peaked in 2019, when 79 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.

Is Nela a good name?

That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Nela currently ranks #709 in England and Wales. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.