How rare is the name Leela?

4,611 people in the United States have the first name Leela, about 1 in 65,502. It ranks #4,162 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

LEELA

#4,162

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
4,611
About
1 in 65,502
This common or more
83.6%
Who bears it

Of the 4,611 people named Leela, 37.4% reported their origin as Asian or Pacific Islander, 31% as White and 16.3% as two or more races. 96.8% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Leela peaked in 2016, when 232 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18982025
Peak year
2016
Births that year
232
In 2025*
175 ▼25%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 4,545 babies have been given the name since 1898. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Leela by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2010s, when it ranked #2,175. The largest share of babies named Leela, 56.8%, were born in 2013 or later.

1890s#3,9395
1910s#11,6155
1920s#13,8275
1940s#9,86816
1950s#11,26017
1960s#9,24247
1970s#7,868109
1980s#7,445158
1990s#8,228194
2000s#3,692864
2010s#2,1752,034
2020s#2,3781,091
Before 19010.1%
Greatest Generation 1901–270.2%
Silent Generation 1928–450.2%
Baby boom 1946–640.9%
Generation X 1965–803.4%
Millennials 1981–965.9%
Generation Z 1997–1232.4%
2013 and later56.8%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Leela is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Leela has been most common in California (2.4×), Washington (1.8×), and New York (1.6×), and least common in Ohio (0.45×).

2,704 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Leela

1 other first name also has 4,611 people.

#4,162 Dhruv · 4,611

Either side of Leela

#4,160 Rufino · 4,614#4,162 Dhruv · 4,611#4,164 Ly · 4,610#4,165 Hamilton · 4,608

Spelled almost the same

7 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Leela, most common first.

#1,093 Leila · 37,753#2,159 Lela · 12,330#2,595 Leyla · 9,255#3,487 Leola · 5,946#17,205 Leala · 645#28,553 Leelah · 314#32,182 Lella · 263

Compare