Ila
A feminine name of Dravidian origin meaning "Earth".
Name Census estimates that about 7,862 living Americans carry the first name Ila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ila today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ila births was 1925 (649 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ila. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ila with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Ila is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 60 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
7.9K
~ 1 in 43,596 Americans
Peak year
1925
649 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
1936 SSA rank
#679
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,053 people with the first name Ila, which placed it at #2,859 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
#2,859
National first-name rank
People counted
8.1K
8,053 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
73.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ila is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Ila 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 Ila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White73.3% · 5,900
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.4% · 916
- Black or African American5.8% · 469
- Hispanic or Latino4.6% · 369
- Two or more races3.9% · 314
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 85
Gender
Gender distribution for Ila
Out of the 24,727 babies given the name Ila since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ila as a male name
- Ranked #3,788 in 1936
- 5 male births in 1936
- Peak: 1916 (9 births)
Ila as a female name
- Ranked #679 in 2024
- 419 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1925 (642 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ila appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,057 people counted with this name, 99.1% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Ila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ila from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 5,550 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Ila remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ila 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 Ila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ilas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 41 states and territories. Texas, North Carolina, Michigan recorded the most babies named Ila, while New Mexico, Nevada, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 418 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ila
Ila is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to various cultures and languages around the world. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "ila," which means "earth" or "region." This name is particularly prevalent in South Asian countries like India and Nepal, where it has been in use for centuries.
In Hindu mythology, Ila is the name of a legendary princess who was transformed into a man named Ila due to a curse. This story is recounted in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. The name also appears in other religious texts, such as the Puranas, where it is associated with various deities and goddesses.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ila dates back to the 5th century BCE, when it was mentioned in the Rigveda, one of the oldest Hindu scriptures. Over the centuries, the name has been borne by several notable figures in Indian history, including Ila Devi, a 10th-century queen of the Kachchhapaghata dynasty in present-day Bihar, India.
Moving beyond South Asia, the name Ila has also been used in various other cultures and languages. In Slavic languages, such as Russian and Polish, the name is spelled as "Ila" and is believed to be derived from the Greek word "ileos," meaning "sunbeam" or "sunshine." One notable bearer of this name was Ila Repin (1844-1930), a renowned Russian painter and artist known for his realistic portrayals of Russian life.
In Scandinavia, the name Ila is thought to be a variant of the Old Norse name "Hild," which means "battle." One famous historical figure with this name was Ila Amundsen (1879-1967), a Norwegian actress and playwright who made significant contributions to the development of Norwegian theater.
Another notable bearer of the name Ila was Ila Loar (1888-1965), an American silent film actress who appeared in numerous films during the early 20th century. She was particularly known for her roles in Western and adventure movies.
Lastly, Ila Borders (born 1975) is a former American baseball player who made history as the first woman to pitch in a men's professional baseball game. She played in the independent Northern League and the Golden Baseball League, challenging gender barriers in the sport.
These are just a few examples of the diverse historical figures who have borne the name Ila, reflecting its enduring appeal and significance across various cultures and time periods.
People
Ila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ila as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,862 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ila 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 43,596 US residents.
Is Ila a common name?
We classify Ila as "Rare". It ranks above 97.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 24,727 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ila most popular?
The single biggest year for Ila was 1925, when 649 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ila is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,053 people with the name Ila, or 2.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,859 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 Ila 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 Ila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ila appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,057 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Ila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ila is White at 73.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (11.4%) and Black (5.8%). 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 Ila most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.3% (5,900 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 Ila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ila a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Ila 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 Ila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ila 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 Ila 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 people share the name Ila?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.