Tela vs Telia
American parents have registered 709 Telias since 1880, against 700 Telas. Telia is still ahead, with 8 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Tela Telia
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 74 years in which either name was published, Telia for 38 years and Tela for 36 years. The lead changed hands 25 times.
- 1921–1941 Telia ahead
- 1955–1970 Tela ahead
- 1975–1978 Telia ahead
- 1985–1999 Tela ahead, apart from one short spell
- 2003–2025 Telia ahead, apart from one short spell
19 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Tela | Telia | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 700 | 709 |
| Most in one year | 45 | 34 |
| Babies in 2025 | under 5 | 8 |
| Estimated living today | 660 | 680 |
| Median age today | 38 | 32 |
| Peak year | 1985 | 1984 |
| Best rank | 2,253rd girls | 2,677th girls |
| Rank in 2025 | unranked | 10,917th |
| First recorded | 1894 | 1921 |
| Girls / boys | 693 / 7 | 709 / 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 Telas alive today are over 38; half the Telias are over 32. That is 6 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: Tela and Telia.