Neila
Feminine · “closing”
Neila is the Hebrew word for a closing, and it names the last service of Yom Kippur — said as the gates are imagined shutting.
How old is the name Neila?
Neila first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Neila alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 1,200 people named Neila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Neila most popular?
Neila peaked in 1900, reaching #1932 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 2,240 places below that high. See the whole 1900 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Neila
Ours, offered as ours. Ne'ilah is the last hour of Yom Kippur, said standing with the ark open, and the image behind the word is the temple gates closing at the end of the day — a last chance while the doors are still ajar. It is the most charged hour of the Jewish year. Whether the American Neila descends from it or from the Irish Niall is unrecorded, and the Hebrew word is the more remarkable of the two.
Meaningscholars disagree
closing, locking
Hebrew ne'ilah means a closing or locking and names the final prayer of the Day of Atonement. A separate reading treats Neila as a feminine form of Neil, from Irish Niall. The two are unrelated and both are offered.
Pronouncing Neila
NAY-lah
Two syllables, first stressed. Some families say NEE-lah.
Nicknames for Neila
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
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 200947 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1932reached in 1900
- Change vs 2023
- +17.2%34 in 2025, from 29
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.
Neila in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ne'ilah in Hebrew — related form
- Niall in Irish — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: Florida, California, New York.
Neilas among us
people named Neila are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Neila
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Neila
- #4172
- Neila on the 2025 chart
- #894
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Neila went to 34 girls in 2025, but Neyla is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 66, which makes it the 894th most-given girls’ name of the year — 3,278 places above the chart.
- Neila34
- Neyla32
About 1 girl in 24,353 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 47,273 for Neila 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
Fashion outlook
Neila 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 Neila is headed
Neila looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 21% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. 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.
Neila beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Neila in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Two real traditions, Hebrew and Irish, stand behind it.
- Open vowels make it easy to say in most languages.
- The first vowel is unsettled between NAY and NEE.
- Neila, Nyla and Nayla are all close and get confused.
- The two possible sources mean entirely different things.
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Neila
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Neilas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,200 people named Neila are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Neila?
- Neila is the most-used spelling in US records — 34 of the 66 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Neyla.
- How popular is the name Neila in 2025?
- Neila ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Neila?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Neila — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Neila with classmates?
- Neila will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Neila
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Brecken#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Neila? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Neila and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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