Meila
Feminine
Meila is a recent American name with several real neighbors across unrelated languages — the Chinese mei, beautiful, the Hebrew Meira, and the German Meike among them.
How old is the name Meila?
Meila first appears in US birth records in 1998 — 27 years ago. The typical Meila is a kid of about 8 — this name's wave is very recent. About 600 people named Meila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Meila most popular?
Meila peaked in 2018, reaching #3050 nationally. Today it ranks #3780, 730 places below that high. See the whole 2018 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Meila
Ours, offered as ours. Meila sits at a junction that a lot of modern names find: an opening syllable that several unrelated languages use for good things — Chinese mei for beauty, Hebrew meir for light — and a plain -la ending that English tolerates easily. The result is a name that reads naturally to speakers of several languages and belongs to none of them. That is a real and increasingly common design, and it is honest to describe it as one.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established. Chinese mei means beautiful and opens Meili and Meiling. Hebrew Meira means one who gives light. Neither is documented as the source, and the name may be built from the Mei- and -la pieces of modern American naming.
Pronouncing Meila
MAY-lah
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families say MEE-lah.
Nicknames for Meila
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
- 1998
- Most girls named
- 201853 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #3050reached in 2018
- Change vs 2024
- +18.2%39 in 2025, from 33
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.
Meila in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Meili in Chinese — related form
- Meira in Hebrew — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Illinois, California, Washington.
Meilas among us
people named Meila are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 41,212 born in 2025 was named Meila
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Meila
- #3780
- Meila on the 2025 chart
- #912
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Meila went to 39 girls in 2025, but Meilah is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 48, which makes it the 912th most-given girls’ name of the year — 2,868 places above the chart.
- Meila39
- Meilah9
About 1 girl in 33,485 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 41,212 for Meila 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 Jinger test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Meila's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Jinger climbed just as high around 1965, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Jinger's path sketches the road Meila is walking now.
Meila 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 Meila is headed
Meila should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low 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.
Meila beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Meila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- Mei is a complete name in Chinese and Japanese in its own right.
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- The first vowel is unsettled between MAY and MEE.
- Meila, Mayla and Mila are all in use and get confused.
- There is no documented meaning for this spelling.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Meila
Feminine · #3780 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Meilas 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 Meila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Meila?
- Meila is the most-used spelling in US records — 39 of the 48 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Meilah.
- How popular is the name Meila in 2025?
- Meila ranks #3780 among US girl names in 2025, with 39 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Meila?
- About 1 in every 41,212 US girls born in 2025 was named Meila — 39 in all.
- Will my child share the name Meila with classmates?
- Meila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Meila
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Kimberlyn#3780 · Jonah#3780 · Aine#3780 · Jakayla#3780 · Shriya#3780 · Analeigh#3780 · Daliyah#3780 · Jamia#3780
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Meila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Meila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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