Lela

femaleStatistical record

What official birth registration shows about Lela: which national registrars published it, in which years, and how its recorded position changed.

No researched meaning, origin or pronunciation yet — what that means.

Lela: Recorded since 1996, it reached #655 in 2003, and it stood at #3,318 in 2024.

2registrars recorded it
25times a registrar ranked it
29years from first to last
#655highest recorded position
4groupings it qualifies for

Region

Falling

among girls in England and Wales · 1996–2024

View as table

England and Wales · Girls rank by year
Year	Rank
1996	#3126
1999	#3900
2003	#4373
2004	#3197
2006	#5061
2007	#5201
2008	#3005
2009	#5556
2010	#5707
2011	#3549
2012	#4171
2013	#4739
2014	#3160
2015	#2945
2016	#4096
2017	#2925
2018	#2674
2019	#5591
2020	#3447
2021	#2711
2022	#2325
2023	#3218
2024	#3318

VerifiedSource: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales.Confidence: high.

See all England and Wales names · Source: Office for National Statistics — Baby Names in England and Wales

What the data shows

FallingEngland and Wales · Girls

Recorded in official data among girls in England and Wales in 23 of the 29 years from 1996 to 2024.

In 2013: #894 among girls in Republic of Ireland, #4739 among girls in England and Wales.

Official data from 2 national registrars across 2 regions, 1996–2024 · Office for National Statistics. Data sources

Popularity journey

First recorded1996
First recorded at #3126 among girls in England and Wales in 1996 — the earliest year that source publishes this name, not necessarily the earliest it was used.
England and Wales · Girls
Highest recorded2003–2013
Highest recorded position: #655 among girls in Republic of Ireland, in 2003 (recorded 2003–2013).
Republic of Ireland · Girls
Most recent2024
Most recently recorded at #3318 among girls in England and Wales, in 2024.
England and Wales · Girls

Lela appears in 2 of the published lists Namewise holds. The longest record is England and Wales · Girls, which has ranked it in 23 years beginning in 1996, and has registered 129 births with the name.

Lela across 2 official records

Each registrar publishes its own list, so these figures are read down a row, never across one. A position in one country is not comparable with a position in another, and Namewise never combines them into a single ranking. The birth counts do not compare across rows either, for a different reason: England and Wales registers roughly thirty times as many births a year as Northern Ireland, so a larger total says which registrar recorded it as much as how widely the name was given.

Lela's first, highest and most recent recorded position in each official list, with the number of births each registrar registered with the name and its largest single year
Published list	First recorded	Highest	Most recent	Years recorded	Births registered	Most in one year
England and Wales · Girls	#3126 (1996)	#2325 (2022)	#3318 (2024)	23 of 29	129 (1996–2024)	11 (2022)
Republic of Ireland · Girls	#655 (2003)	#655 (2003)	#894 (2013)	2 of 11	6 (2003–2013)	3 (2003)

Lela by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Births registered with the name in each decade of this one list, with the number of years the list covers in that decade. Bars are scaled on births a year, which is the figure that compares between decades — a decade the list only partly covers has a smaller total without being a quieter decade. Figures belong to this registrar alone and do not carry to another.

Births registered with Lela in England and Wales · Girls, by decade, with years covered and the average per year
Decade	Births registered	Years covered	A year
1990s	7	2 of 10	4
2000s	24	6 of 10	4
2010s	58	10 of 10	6
2020sbusiest	40	5 of 10	8

Across England and Wales · Girls, the 2020s were its busiest decade — the 5 years of it this list covers, averaging 8 births a year.

See the names England and Waleshas recorded the most births with →

Lela appears in

Groupings this name qualifies for under their own stated rules, from the same official statistics shown above.

Popularity data

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #655 in Republic of Ireland in 2003.

Lela's recorded popularity observations by year, region and administrative category, including rank, registered births, source confidence and when each region's data was last reviewed.
Year	Region	Category	Rank	Births registered	Confidence	Status
2024	England and Wales	female	#3318	7	High	Verified
2023	England and Wales	female	#3218	7	High	Verified
2022	England and Wales	female	#2325	11	High	Verified
2021	England and Wales	female	#2711	9	High	Verified
2020	England and Wales	female	#3447	6	High	Verified
2019	England and Wales	female	#5591	3	High	Verified
2018	England and Wales	female	#2674	9	High	Verified
2017	England and Wales	female	#2925	8	High	Verified
2016	England and Wales	female	#4096	5	High	Verified
2015	England and Wales	female	#2945	8	High	Verified
2014	England and Wales	female	#3160	7	High	Verified
2013	England and Wales	female	#4739	4	High	Verified
2012	England and Wales	female	#4171	5	High	Verified
2011	England and Wales	female	#3549	6	High	Verified
2010	England and Wales	female	#5707	3	High	Verified
2009	England and Wales	female	#5556	3	High	Verified
2008	England and Wales	female	#3005	7	High	Verified
2007	England and Wales	female	#5201	3	High	Verified
2006	England and Wales	female	#5061	3	High	Verified
2004	England and Wales	female	#3197	5	High	Verified
2003	England and Wales	female	#4373	3	High	Verified
1999	England and Wales	female	#3900	3	High	Verified
1996	England and Wales	female	#3126	4	High	Verified
2013	Republic of Ireland	female	#894	3	High	Verified
2003	Republic of Ireland	female	#655	3	High	Verified

England and Wales hub — collected by Office for National Statistics
Republic of Ireland hub — collected by CSO Ireland

See methodology and data sources for how popularity data is collected and what "confidence" means.

What the record shows

Recorded by 2 registrars between 1996 and 2024, ranked in 23 years of that period.

Its highest recorded position is #655, first reached in 2003.

Its largest count from any one registrar is 11 births, registered in England and Wales in 2022.

Its record falls into 4 separate stretches, with a longest absence of 3 years.

A second registrar first ranked it in 2003, and 7 years separate the first registrar to record it from the last.

Every figure here is counted from the seven official registrars Namewise holds. A position is only ever a place within the list that published it, and a record that thins or stops is a fact about what registrars printed — never about how many children received the name.

Where to go next

Records with a comparable body of evidence, so the catalogue can be read outward from this one. Each group states the rule it was selected by.

Next in the catalogue

The records either side of this one alphabetically.

Leja · #251, 17y
Lejla · #358, 13y
Leland · #234, 20y
Lelia · #325, 19y

A comparable record

Records held by the same 2 registrars, over a similar number of ranked years, whose highest position is closest to this one. A similar body of evidence — never a claim that the names themselves are alike.

Aminat · #655, 18y
Anuoluwapo · #655, 26y
Benita · #655, 27y
Kemi · #655, 23y

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Records whose earliest ranking in Namewise's registrar data also falls between 1990 and 1999.

Aminat · #655, 18y
Anuoluwapo · #655, 26y
Areeba · #655, 29y
Azhar · #655, 28y

Lela was ranked #655 in Republic of Ireland · Girls in 2003. These are the names immediately either side of it on that published list — a fact about the registrar's own output, not a similarity judgement.

Lela and the names beside it

Two names in the same published list are measured on the same scale, in the same year, by the same registrar — so these are positions that genuinely passed each other, not a similarity judgement. Drawn from the 2,573 names with a recorded popularity standing (common, familiar, uncommon), so a name outside that set could have passed Lela without appearing here.

Lela moved ahead of

Kari Compare
In 2021 they stood at #5591 and #4686 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2022 that had become #2325 and #5669.
Jayden Compare
In 2017 they stood at #4739 and #3536 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2018 that had become #2674 and #5666.
Kirsten Compare
In 2020 they stood at #5591 and #5591 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #2711 and #5581.
Tracy Compare
In 2020 they stood at #3447 and #2449 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2021 that had become #2711 and #5581.

Moved ahead of Lela

Liv Compare
In 2002 they stood at #3126 and #3795 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2003 that had become #4373 and #2727.
Ezra Compare
In 2013 they stood at #4739 and #5742 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2014 that had become #3160 and #1628.
Selma Compare
In 1998 they stood at #3126 and #3795 in England and Wales · Girls; by 1999 that had become #3900 and #2444.
Eabha Compare
In 2014 they stood at #3160 and #3514 in England and Wales · Girls; by 2015 that had become #2945 and #2070.

Moved the same way as Lela

Rory Compare
Between 2010 and 2024 in England and Wales · Girls, Lela went from #5707 to #3318 and Rory from #5707 to #1603.

What's not yet available

Meaning
Origin
Pronunciation
Nicknames and spelling variants

Absence from this list does not mean the name isn't genuinely meaningful or widely used — only that Namewise hasn't sourced and reviewed that content yet. Absence from a specific year or geography above does not prove zero use there either; official statistics only publish names above a minimum threshold.

Official popularity data is available for 2 regions, from 1996 to 2024. Highest recorded position: #655 in Republic of Ireland in 2003. Source data last verified 2026-07-21.

Lela

Lela at a glance

What the data shows

Popularity journey

Lela across 2 official records

Lela by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Lela appears in

Popularity data

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Lela

Lela and the names beside it

Lela moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lela

Moved the same way as Lela

Lela at a glance

Lela across 2 official records

Lela by decade in England and Wales · Girls

Lela appears in

What the record shows

Where to go next

Next in the catalogue

A comparable record

Also first recorded in the 1990s

Names published alongside Lela

Lela and the names beside it

Lela moved ahead of

Moved ahead of Lela

Moved the same way as Lela