Humanverse

Neila vs Neita

American parents have registered 1,405 Neilas since 1880, against 635 Neitas. Neila is still ahead, with 34 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Neila against Neita, 1880 to 2025 0 13 25 38 50 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Neila Neita

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 119 years in which either name was published, Neila for 78 years and Neita for 41 years. The lead changed hands 11 times.

Side by side

  Neila Neita
Total US births 1,405635
Most in one year 4719
Babies in 2025 34under 5
Estimated living today 1,200200
Median age today 2076
Peak year 20091934
Best rank 3,460th girls1,771st girls
Rank in 2025 4,172ndunranked
First recorded 19001889
Girls / boys 1,405 / 0635 / 0

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Neitas alive today are over 76; half the Neilas are over 20. That is 56 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Neila and Neita.