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Neela

#3,331 in 2025Girls' name

Alternate transcription of Nila

Neela has been given to 1,374 babies in the U.S. since 1972. In 2025 it ranked #3,331 of 17,293 girls’ names in use. Its peak year was 2007, with 103 recorded.

Babies named Neela, 2025

1 in 70,500

Neela over time, 1880–2025

Girls
05010015018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Neela: meaning, origin, and history

Alternate transcription of Nila

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Neela means

Neela is a alternate transcription of Nila.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Neela → Nila. The family’s meaning is “of a dark colour; blue; black”, recorded in English with the source elements nīla.

Origin, language, and formation

Neela is used in Finnish.

Neela comes through English Neela and Sanskrit नील.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Nila.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Finnish, Neela is pronounced /ˈneːlɑ/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 1,374 girls were recorded with the name Neela between 1972 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 103 in 2007; its best national rank was #2,000 in 2007.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #3,484 in 2020 to #3,331 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #2,959 in 2015 to #3,331 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

How common is Neela?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 70,500
47 of 3,315,165 births
Among girls only
1 in 34,200
<0.01% of girls
Rank, 2025
#3,331
of 17,293 girls’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
48,893 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Neela sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 48,893 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Neela. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Neelas were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Neela was born before 2011 — so the typical Neela is around 14 today.

Median birth year
2011
About 14 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
38.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
91.6%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
1,374
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 38.1% of all recorded uses (524).

Is Neela rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−292
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+153
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
−372
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.80×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
45.6%
Peak was 2007 (103)
Years since peak
18
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
21.7% average annual change
Best rank ever
#2,000
2007

Spellings of Neela

Neela is not the most common spelling — Angela is, with 37.2% against Neela's 0.08%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Neela is used

Across 1910–2025, Neela was most concentrated in Arizona — about 1 in 100,000 girls, against 1 in 228,813 across all states with data. It was least common in Wisconsin (1 in —).

01 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Arizona1 in 100,000
  2. 2California1 in 100,000
  3. 3Florida1 in 100,000
  4. 4Texas1 in 100,000
  5. 5Colorado1 in —
  6. 6Georgia1 in —
  7. 7Illinois1 in —
  8. 8Minnesota1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded girls given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Neela has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Neela around the world

Where Neela ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2001–2025
    #4,201
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2007–2021
    #792
    in 2021
  • Ireland
    2008–2016
    #868
    in 2016
  • France
    1990–2025
    #1,123
    in 2025
  • Canada
    2004–2024
    #2,256
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2009–2010
    #801
    in 2010

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Neela by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#3,331
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 153
Best rank ever
#2,000
2007
Peak year
2007
103 that year
First recorded
1972
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
1,374
Count in 2025
47

Names similar to Neela

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

NeenaNeelyNeemaLaelaKeelaNeevaAnelaJaelaSelaAkelaNeeraMeelaShaelaVelaAnielaMelaAmelaJamelaMaelaMayelaLeelaShelaBelaAela

Sibling names for Neela

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Neela

Top names of 2007, Neela's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 2007Girls' names starting with NFinnish NamesUncommon Finnish Girl Names