Lella
Feminine
Lella is four letters that three different languages arrive at independently — an Italian pet form, an Arabic title, and an English respelling of a Persian word for night.
How old is the name Lella?
Lella was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Lella alive today was born around 1918, making them about 107 years old. About 100 people named Lella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Lella most popular?
Lella peaked in 1883, reaching #615 nationally. See the whole 1883 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Lella
Italian makes household names by repetition rather than by clipping: take a syllable out of the middle of a name, double it or soften it, and the result is a form that only a family would use. Gabriella gives Lella; Giuseppe gives Peppe; Antonio gives Totò. It is a different instinct from the English one, which cuts a name short and adds an ending, and it produces names that sound like nursery words to outsiders and are used by adults for each other all their lives. A four-letter name of that kind, written on an American document, is a piece of somebody's kitchen that ended up in a government file.
Meaningnot established
Not established
In Italian it is an affectionate form built by doubling a syllable, of Gabriella or Raffaella. In parts of North Africa Lella is a title of respect for a woman. And Leila, from a Persian and Arabic word for night, produces this spelling when English speakers write it by ear. None can be established for a given bearer.
Pronouncing Lella
LEL-uh
Two syllables, stress at the front. The doubled l keeps the vowel before it short, which distinguishes it from Leila.
Nicknames for Lella
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
- 1880
- Most girls named
- 191630 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #615reached in 1883
- Change vs 2014
- −28.6%5 in 2018, 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.
Lella in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Lella in Italian — same name
- Lalla in Arabic — related form
Lellas among us
people named Lella 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
Lella 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 small child.
- The spelling is unambiguous.
- It is genuinely rare while sounding familiar.
- Leila, Bella and Della are all nearby and hers will be heard as one of them.
- Three unrelated origins mean no meaning is safely hers.
- The name belongs to one American era in this spelling.
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Lella
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Lellas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 100 people named Lella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Lella in 2025?
- Lella is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Lella with classmates?
- Lella will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More L names
The most-given names starting with L, all years combined.
Linda#902 · Lisa#987 · Laura#379 · Lauren#401 · Lillian#57 · Lori#1721 · Louise#514 · Lois#1666
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Lella? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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