Aela
Feminine · “angel”
Aela is Breton, and the word behind it is one of the oldest borrowings in Christian Europe: ael, the Breton for angel, taken from the Greek that gave every European language its word for a messenger.
How old is the name Aela?
Aela first appears in US birth records in 2006 — 19 years ago. The typical Aela is a kid of about 6 — this name's wave is very recent. About 700 people named Aela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aela most popular?
Aela peaked in 2024, reaching #2694 nationally. Today it ranks #2778, 84 places below that high. See the whole 2024 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From angelos to Aela
The story of Aela
Brittany kept a Celtic language and a distinct stock of names through centuries of French rule, and Breton naming was given fresh energy in the twentieth century when families deliberately reached back for forms that were theirs rather than Paris's. Ael and Aela belong to that revival, along with Maël, Maëlle, Gwenn and Erwan. The names travel well because they are short and vowel-heavy, and Breton names have been quietly spreading through France and beyond ever since. Aela reaches American records in small numbers, sometimes by that road and sometimes as a spelling of Ayla.
Meaningscholars disagree
angel
The Breton Aela is the feminine of Ael, from Latin angelus and Greek angelos, 'messenger'. That reading is documented in Breton naming. The complication is American: Aela here is often a respelling of Ayla, a separate name with its own contested roots in Turkish and Hebrew, and the two have converged on the page. Which name a particular Aela is depends on the family rather than the letters.
How the name formed
- angelos
- angelus
- Ael
- Aela
Related forms: Ael · Aëla · Ayla
Pronouncing Aela
AY-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first. Breton gives the two opening vowels a little more separation than English does — closer to ah-EH-la — and French spelling often marks that with a diaeresis. American English says AY-lah, exactly as Ayla.
Nicknames for Aela
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 2006
- Most girls named
- 202464 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2694reached in 2024
- Change vs 2024
- −4.7%61 in 2025, from 64
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Aela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ael in Breton — related form
- Aëla in French — spelling variant
- Ayla in English — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Pennsylvania, Texas.
Aelas among us
people named Aela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,349 born in 2025 was named Aela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Aela
- #2778
- Aela on the 2025 chart
- #864
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Aela went to 61 girls in 2025, but Aella is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 96, which makes it the 864th most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,914 places above the chart.
- Aela61
- Aella35
About 1 girl in 16,742 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,349 for Aela itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Valory test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Valory climbed just as high around 1951, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Valory's path sketches the road Aela is walking now.
Aela sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aela is headed
Aela should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Aela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Breton name with a clear and universally understood meaning.
- Four letters, entirely phonetic, and easy for English speakers at first sight.
- Ela works as a short form and is a full name in its own right elsewhere.
- Ayla is the far more common spelling in the United States and this one will be corrected constantly.
- Aela, Ayla, Aila and Ailah all circulate and are heard identically.
- Naming a child angel is a large gesture, and people who know the Breton will hear it as one.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Aela
Feminine · #2778 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Aelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Aela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Aela?
- Aela is the most-used spelling in US records — 61 of the 96 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Aella.
- How popular is the name Aela in 2025?
- Aela ranks #2778 among US girl names in 2025, with 61 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aela?
- About 1 in every 26,349 US girls born in 2025 was named Aela — 61 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aela with classmates?
- Aela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eugenia#2778 · Amour#2778 · Wynona#2778 · Joie#2778 · Bennie#2778 · Havyn#2778 · Wisdom#2778 · Lili#2778
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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