Meela
Feminine
Meela writes a sound that American naming has been circling for twenty years. Mila, Mia, Layla and Nyla all share the same shape, and the double e here is doing one job: making sure the first vowel is read long.
How old is the name Meela?
Meela first appears in US birth records in 2005 — 20 years ago. The typical Meela is a kid of about 9 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Meela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Meela most popular?
Meela peaked in 2013, reaching #3123 nationally. Today it ranks #5410, 2,287 places below that high. See the whole 2013 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Meela
The doubled vowel is a specific and underrated device. English spelling is notoriously unreliable about vowel length — compare live and live, read and read — and a doubled letter is the plainest way to settle it. So American naming uses it constantly: Meela, Aaliyah, Naomi written Naomee, Kaylee, Bree. In each case the extra letter is not decorative but corrective; it forecloses a misreading that the standard spelling allows. Meela is Mila with that correction applied, and it is worth noticing that the correction was needed at all — Mila can be read MY-la, MEE-la or MIL-a by an English reader with no way to choose. The 2013 peak sits in the middle of the sound's American rise.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source establishes an etymology for this spelling. Slavic Mila is genuine and means dear or gracious, from a root meaning kind; Hebrew Meila and Arabic Mila are separately proposed and neither is documented for this form. Meela is a phonetic American spelling and its relationship to any of these is a matter of sound rather than descent.
Pronouncing Meela
MEE-lah
Two syllables, stress on the first, with a long ee. The doubled e is a spelling device for that length and not a separate syllable.
Nicknames for Meela
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
- 2005
- Most girls named
- 201352 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3123reached in 2013
- Change vs 2024
- −8.0%23 in 2025, from 25
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.
Meela in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Mila in Slavic — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Meelas among us
people named Meela are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 69,881 born in 2025 was named Meela
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Meela
- #5410
- Meela on the 2025 chart
- #887
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Meela went to 23 girls in 2025, but Mela, Meelah and Melah are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 73, which makes it the 887th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,523 places above the chart.
- Mela26
- Meela23
- Meelah14
- Melah10
About 1 girl in 22,017 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 69,881 for Meela 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 Shareese test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Meela's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Shareese climbed just as high around 1973, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Shareese's path sketches the road Meela is walking now.
Meela 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
Meela beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Meela in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The spelling removes any doubt about the first vowel.
- Five letters and two open syllables travel anywhere.
- Everyone can say it after one hearing.
- Mila is the standard spelling and will be written for it.
- There is no established meaning for this spelling.
- Meela, Mila, Mela and Milah are four spellings of one sound.
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What they receive
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Meela
Feminine · #5410 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Meelas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Meela are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Meela?
- Meela is one of 4 recorded spellings. Mela is the more common one — 26 births in 2025 against 23 for Meela.
- How popular is the name Meela in 2025?
- Meela ranks #5410 among US girl names in 2025, with 23 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Meela?
- About 1 in every 69,881 US girls born in 2025 was named Meela — 23 in all.
- Will my child share the name Meela with classmates?
- Meela will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Meela
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Aina#5410 · Sherry#5410 · Kathia#5410 · Taj#5410 · Analicia#5410 · Divya#5410 · Halimah#5410 · Leo#5410
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Meela? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Meela and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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