Nella
Feminine
Nella is what Italian leaves behind when it cuts a long name from the front. Antonella, Petronella, Fenella and Marinella all end in the same two syllables, and Nella is the piece they share.
How old is the name Nella?
Nella was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Nella alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 2,100 people named Nella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Nella most popular?
Nella peaked in 1881, reaching #384 nationally. Today it ranks #2822, 2,438 places below that high. See the whole 1881 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Petronella to Nella
The story of Nella
Italian shortens names by keeping the stressed end rather than the beginning, so a long -ella name reduces to Nella exactly as Bernardino reduces to Dino. The -ella ending is itself a diminutive, which means these names were already affectionate before anyone shortened them further. Italian emigration carried the whole family to the United States, and the American record shows Nella clearly in the late nineteenth century. Separately, Dutch and Scandinavian families produced Nella from Cornelia and Petronella by the same trimming.
Meaningscholars disagree
inherited from whichever long name it came off
Nella has no meaning of its own. It stands on several names at once: Antonella, from the Roman Antonius, whose own meaning is unknown; Petronella, from Petronius and ultimately petra, 'rock'; Fenella, an anglicization of the Irish Fionnuala, 'white shoulder'; and Eleanora, whose reading has never been settled. Four unrelated sources, one ending.
How the name formed
- Petronella
- Nella
Related forms: Antonella · Petronella · Fenella · Nella
Pronouncing Nella
NEL-ah
Two syllables, stress on the first, the final a fully open in Italian and reduced to a schwa in American English. There is no ambiguity in it.
Nicknames for Nella
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
- 202281 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #384reached in 1881
- Change vs 2022
- −25.9%60 in 2025, from 81
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.
Nella in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Antonella in Italian — related form
- Petronella in Dutch — related form
- Fenella in Scottish — related form
- Nella in Italian — same name
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Illinois, New York.
Nellas among us
people named Nella are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 26,788 born in 2025 was named Nella
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Nella
- #2822
- Nella on the 2025 chart
- #841
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Nella went to 60 girls in 2025, but Neela and Nela are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 119, which makes it the 841st most-given girls’ name of the year — 1,981 places above the chart.
About 1 girl in 13,506 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 26,788 for Nella 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
Nella 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 Nella is headed
Nella 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.
Nella beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Nella in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters, two syllables, and said correctly by everyone at first sight.
- Nell and Ella are both ready alternatives and both are complete names.
- Long established in Italian and Dutch families rather than newly coined.
- It is a short form by origin, so it can read as informal on official paperwork.
- Nella, Nellie and Nela all circulate and get confused with one another.
- It sits very close to Ella and Bella and will be misheard as both.
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What they receive
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Nella
Feminine · #2822 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Nellas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Nella are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Nella?
- Nella is the most-used spelling in US records — 60 of the 119 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Neela and Nela.
- How popular is the name Nella in 2025?
- Nella ranks #2822 among US girl names in 2025, with 60 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Nella?
- About 1 in every 26,788 US girls born in 2025 was named Nella — 60 in all.
- Will my child share the name Nella with classmates?
- Nella will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Nella
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Lya#2822 · Roxanna#2822 · Kensington#2822 · Maybelle#2822 · Hayat#2822 · Seven#2822 · Livie#2822 · Haniya#2822
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Nella? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Nella and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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