Earla
A feminine given name derived from the Old English word "earl", meaning "noble".
Name Census estimates that about 270 living Americans carry the first name Earla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Earla today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Earla births was 1949 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Earla. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Earla is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Earlas were born before 1962.
People living today
270
~ 1 in 1,269,461 Americans
Peak year
1949
28 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1969 SSA rank
#4,802
Tracked since 1912
Census
Earla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 448 people with the first name Earla, which placed it at #22,278 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#22,278
National first-name rank
People counted
448
448 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Earla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Earla is White at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Earla described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Earla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.3% · 342
- Black or African American18.8% · 84
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 12
- Two or more races1.3% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 4
Popularity
Earla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Earla from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 182 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Earla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Earla by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Earla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Earlas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Earla
The name Earla is of Old English origin, derived from the word "eorl," meaning "nobleman" or "warrior." It dates back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 5th to 11th centuries AD. The name was initially used for men and symbolized strength, bravery, and nobility.
In the early medieval era, the name Earla appeared in various Old English records and chronicles, often referring to prominent figures or influential noblemen. One of the earliest known bearers of the name was Earla of Mercia, an Anglo-Saxon nobleman who lived in the 7th century and played a significant role in the Kingdom of Mercia.
As time passed, the name Earla also gained popularity among women, possibly as a feminized version of the masculine name. It was commonly used in England during the Middle Ages and was often associated with individuals of high social standing or noble birth.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Earla was Earla of Northumbria, a powerful noblewoman who lived in the 9th century. She was known for her influence and political acumen during the turbulent period of Viking invasions in England.
In the 12th century, Earla of Wessex, a renowned scholar and abbess, gained recognition for her literary works and her contributions to the intellectual life of the time. Her writings shed light on the cultural and religious aspects of medieval England.
During the Renaissance period, Earla Fitzwilliam (1508-1569) was a prominent English courtier and member of the gentry. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Elizabeth I and was renowned for her wit and intelligence.
Another historical figure worth mentioning is Earla Browne (1614-1665), an English Puritan writer and theologian known for her religious works and her advocacy for women's education and rights.
While the name Earla was predominantly used in England during these earlier periods, it has since spread to other parts of the world, albeit with varying spellings and pronunciations. Despite its rich historical roots, the name has become less common in modern times, though it still carries echoes of its noble and warrior-like origins.
People
Earla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Earla as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Earla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Earla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 270 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Earla going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 1,269,461 US residents.
Is Earla a common name?
We classify Earla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 742 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Earla most popular?
The single biggest year for Earla was 1949, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Earla is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Earla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 448 people with the name Earla, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,278 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Earla in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Earla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Earla appears almost entirely female. Of the 444 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Earla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Earla is White at 76.3%. The next largest groups are Black (18.8%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (2.7%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Earla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Earla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.3% (342 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Earla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Earla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Earla in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Earla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Earla in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Earla can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Earla?
See how many Americans are named Earla on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.