Isela
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly Spanish or Greek.
Name Census estimates that about 5,483 living Americans carry the first name Isela. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isela today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isela births was 1998 (196 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isela. 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.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,512 Americans
Peak year
1998
196 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,852
Tracked since 1926
Census
Isela in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,952 people with the first name Isela, which placed it at #2,883 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
#2,883
National first-name rank
People counted
8.0K
7,952 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isela
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isela is Hispanic at 97.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Isela 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 Isela at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.7% · 7,771
- White1.5% · 123
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 25
- Black or African American0.3% · 21
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
- Two or more races0.1% · 5
Popularity
Isela: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isela from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,312 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Isela remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isela 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 Isela during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Iselas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Isela, while New Mexico, Nevada, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 408 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isela
The given name Isela is of Spanish origin, derived from the Latin name Isidera, which itself comes from the Greek word "isidora," meaning "gift of Isis." Isis was an ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility, motherhood, and magic, and her worship spread throughout the Mediterranean region during the Greco-Roman period.
The name Isela first appeared in historical records in Spain during the Middle Ages, possibly as a variation of the name Isidora or Isidra. In the 13th century, there are records of a Spanish noblewoman named Isela de Lara, who was a member of the powerful House of Lara.
Throughout the centuries, the name Isela has been borne by various notable individuals, including Isela Vega (1939-2021), a celebrated Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows. Another notable bearer of the name was Isela Costantini (1938-1972), an Argentine entrepreneur and aviation pioneer who became the first female commercial airline pilot in Latin America.
In the realm of literature, Isela Fermín (1924-2011) was a renowned Venezuelan poet and essayist, whose works explored themes of identity, feminism, and social justice. Her poetry collections, such as "Poemas de la ternura" (Poems of Tenderness) and "Cantos de la tierra" (Songs of the Earth), earned her critical acclaim and numerous literary awards.
Another notable figure was Isela Guardia (1819-1897), a Cuban poet, educator, and feminist who played a significant role in advocating for women's rights and education in 19th-century Cuba. Her poetry collection, "Mis Primeros Cantos" (My First Songs), published in 1861, was one of the earliest works by a Cuban female poet.
Isela Gonzalez (1933-2021) was a Mexican-American artist and activist, known for her vibrant and culturally significant paintings that celebrated Mexican-American identity and heritage. Her murals and artworks adorned many public spaces, including schools and community centers, in the southwestern United States.
People
Isela + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isela 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
Isela: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isela?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,483 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isela 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 62,512 US residents.
Is Isela a common name?
We classify Isela as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,824 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isela most popular?
The single biggest year for Isela was 1998, when 196 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isela is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isela in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,952 people with the name Isela, or 2.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,883 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 Isela 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 Isela?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isela appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,956 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Isela?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isela is Hispanic at 97.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.3%). 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 Isela most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isela in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (7,771 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 Isela in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isela a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isela 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 Isela still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isela 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 Isela 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 common is the name Isela?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.