Nelida
A feminine name of Spanish origin, possibly meaning "born again" or "reborn".
Name Census estimates that about 1,330 living Americans carry the first name Nelida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nelida today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nelida births was 1964 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nelida. 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
1.3K
~ 1 in 257,710 Americans
Peak year
1964
42 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,818
Tracked since 1933
Census
Nelida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,870 people with the first name Nelida, which placed it at #3,994 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
#3,994
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,870 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nelida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nelida is Hispanic at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Nelida 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 Nelida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.8% · 4,619
- White2.4% · 117
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 72
- Black or African American1.0% · 47
- Two or more races0.2% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 7
Popularity
Nelida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nelida from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 337 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nelida 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 Nelida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nelidas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Nelida, while Connecticut, Texas, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 120 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nelida
Nelida is a feminine given name of Spanish origin. It is derived from the Latin word "nellus," which means "blue-colored." The name likely originated in Spain during the medieval period, when the use of color-based names was popular.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Nelida can be traced back to the 13th century. In 1265, a woman named Nelida de Aragon was mentioned in a Spanish historical document as a member of the Aragonese nobility.
Throughout history, the name Nelida has been associated with several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Nelida de Villena (1322-1391), a Spanish poet and writer who was renowned for her works on medieval literature and philosophy.
In the 16th century, Nelida de Mendoza (1508-1580) was a prominent figure in the Spanish court. She served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella of Portugal and was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Erasmian movement in Spain.
Another notable Nelida was Nelida Montes de Oca (1856-1932), a Mexican poet and educator. She was a pioneer in the field of women's education in Mexico and founded several schools for girls during her lifetime.
Nelida Arregui de Mannarelli (1891-1975) was a Peruvian writer and feminist activist. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and played a significant role in the suffrage movement in Peru in the early 20th century.
In more recent times, Nelida Karr (1935-2003) was a renowned Argentine artist and sculptor. Her works, which often explored themes of femininity and nature, have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
While the name Nelida has Spanish roots, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages over time. However, its origin and meaning remain firmly tied to its Latin and Spanish heritage, reflecting the rich linguistic and cultural diversity of the regions where it first emerged.
People
Nelida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nelida as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Nelida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nelida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,330 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nelida 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 257,710 US residents.
Is Nelida a common name?
We classify Nelida as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,520 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nelida most popular?
The single biggest year for Nelida was 1964, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nelida is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nelida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,870 people with the name Nelida, or 1.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,994 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 Nelida 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 Nelida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nelida appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,865 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Nelida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nelida is Hispanic at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.5%). 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 Nelida most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Nelida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (4,619 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 Nelida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nelida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nelida 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 Nelida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nelida 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 Nelida 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 have the name Nelida?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Nelida on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.