Humanverse

Relda vs Rella

American parents have registered 1,325 Rellas since 1880, against 565 Reldas. Rella is still ahead, with 12 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Relda against Rella, 1880 to 2025 0 8 16 24 32 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Relda Rella

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 103 years in which either name was published, Rella for 97 years and Relda for 6 years. The lead changed hands 10 times.

Side by side

  Relda Rella
Total US births 5651,325
Most in one year 1926
Babies in 2025 under 512
Estimated living today 190390
Median age today 7670
Peak year 19421921
Best rank 1,981st girls1,668th girls
Rank in 2025 unranked8,362nd
First recorded 19021880
Girls / boys 565 / 01,325 / 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 Reldas alive today are over 76; half the Rellas are over 70. That is 6 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

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