Marcela
Feminine · “of Mars”
Marcela is the Spanish of Marcella, and the Roman family name behind it descends from Mars — a god of agriculture as well as of war, which is why his month opens the farming year.
How old is the name Marcela?
Marcela first appears in US birth records in 1908 — 117 years ago. The typical Marcela alive today was born around 1996, making them about 29 years old. About 8,400 people named Marcela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Marcela most popular?
Marcela peaked in 1991, reaching #946 nationally. Today it ranks #1548, 602 places below that high. See the whole 1991 chart.
Marcela appears on this list:
Where it comes from
From Mars to Marcela
The story of Marcela
Saint Marcella was a fourth-century Roman noblewoman who turned her house on the Aventine into one of the first Christian religious communities for women and corresponded with Jerome. The name spread across Latin Europe, and Spanish-speaking families brought Marcela to the United States, where it appears steadily and is in current use.
Meaning
of Mars
From the Roman family name Marcellus, a diminutive of Marcus, itself from Mars. The derivation is undisputed; what Mars's own name meant is not recovered. Marcella is its feminine, and Spanish and Portuguese use Marcela with one l.
How the name formed
- Mars
- Marcellus
- Marcella
- Marcela
Related forms: Marcela · Marcela · Marcella · Marcela
Pronouncing Marcela
mar-SEH-lah
Three syllables, stress in the middle. Spanish rolls the r; Italian Marcella has a crisper double l.
Nicknames for Marcela
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
- 1908
- Most girls named
- 1991201 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #946reached in 1991
- Change vs 2023
- −6.2%136 in 2025, from 145
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.
Marcela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Marcela in Spanish — same name
- Marcela in Portuguese — same name
- Marcella in Italian — related form
- Marcela in Czech — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, Florida, California.
Marcelas among us
people named Marcela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 11,818 born in 2025 was named Marcela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Marcela
- #1548
- Marcela on the 2025 chart
- #584
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Marcela went to 136 girls in 2025, but Marcella is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 408, which makes it the 584th most-given girls’ name of the year — 964 places above the chart.
- Marcella272
- Marcela136
About 1 girl in 3,939 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 11,818 for Marcela 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 Nilda test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Marcela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Nilda climbed just as high around 1957, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Nilda's path sketches the road Marcela is walking now.
Marcela is on its second act. Revived names age gently: the generation that wore them first is far enough away that the name feels classic rather than dated.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Marcela is headed
Marcela 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.
Marcela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Marcela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- A documented Roman family name and a substantial fourth-century founder stand behind it.
- Chela is a warm and very widely used Spanish short form.
- It is standard in Spanish, Portuguese, Czech and Polish.
- Marcella with two l's is the Italian and English form.
- Three syllables and a rolled r that English will flatten.
- Marcelle and Marisela are close enough to cause confusion.
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What they receive
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Marcela
Feminine · #1548 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Marcelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 8,400 people named Marcela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Marcela?
- Marcela is one of 2 recorded spellings. Marcella is the more common one — 272 births in 2025 against 136 for Marcela.
- How popular is the name Marcela in 2025?
- Marcela ranks #1548 among US girl names in 2025, with 136 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Marcela?
- About 1 in every 11,818 US girls born in 2025 was named Marcela — 136 in all.
- Will my child share the name Marcela with classmates?
- Marcela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Marcela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Skylynn#1548 · Keila#1548 · Addilynn#1548 · Mavie#1548 · Maelani#1548 · Raine#1548 · Theresa#1548 · Avalyn#1548
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Marcela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Marcela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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