Kela
Feminine
Kela is four letters and two syllables, and names that short exist in almost every language on earth — which is exactly what makes them impossible to trace. Half a dozen languages have something that sounds like this, and none of them can be shown to be the source.
How old is the name Kela?
Kela first appears in US birth records in 1950 — 75 years ago. The typical Kela alive today was born around 1987, making them about 38 years old. About 900 people named Kela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Kela most popular?
Kela peaked in 1975, reaching #2743 nationally. See the whole 1975 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Kela
This is the trap that name dictionaries fall into constantly. A short name with a common consonant and two ordinary vowels will match something in a dozen unrelated languages, because the number of easy syllables is small and the number of languages is large. Finding a match proves nothing at all; what would prove something is a chain of bearers, a community that used the name, a document. Short names almost never have one. So the honest entry for a name like this is a list of things it is not known to come from, plus the observation that it is the end of several long names that were current when it appeared — which is dull, and true, and better than a borrowed translation.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Words and names resembling it exist in Hebrew, in Hawaiian, in Swahili and in several Indian languages, and the name also falls out naturally as the back half of Michaela, Angela and Raquela. No evidence connects the American name to any of the foreign words, and the plainest account is the domestic one.
Pronouncing Kela
KAY-luh
Two syllables, stress at the front. KEH-luh is also used and the spelling does not decide.
Nicknames for Kela
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
- 1950
- Most girls named
- 199432 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2743reached in 1975
- Change vs 2011
- +14.3%8 in 2016, from 7
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.
Kelas among us
people named Kela are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Kela sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It is short, soft and easy for a child at any age.
- It is genuinely rare while sounding entirely ordinary.
- The spelling is simple enough to survive being dictated.
- Kayla, Keila and Kelah are all close and hers will be written as one of them.
- Two pronunciations are possible from four letters.
- The meanings offered for it belong to other languages and cannot be connected to this name.
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Kela
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Kelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Kela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Kela in 2025?
- Kela is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Kela with classmates?
- Kela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More K names
The most-given names starting with K, all years combined.
Karen#1279 · Kimberly#302 · Kathleen#1150 · Katherine#186 · Kelly#851 · Kathryn#729 · Kayla#364 · Kathy#3249
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Kela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Kela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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