Zelia vs Zell
American parents have registered 1,177 Zelias since 1880, against 583 Zells. Zelia is still ahead, with 33 babies in 2025.
Babies given each name, 1880–2025
Zelia Zell
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 107 years in which either name was published, Zelia for 80 years and Zell for 27 years. The lead changed hands 38 times.
- 1883–1924 Zelia ahead, apart from one short spell
- 1933–1936 Zell ahead
- 1937–2025 Zelia ahead, apart from 4 short spells
31 shorter spells of a year or two are folded into the spans above rather than listed separately.
Side by side
| Zelia | Zell | |
|---|---|---|
| Total US births | 1,177 | 583 |
| Most in one year | 33 | 29 |
| Babies in 2025 | 33 | under 5 |
| Estimated living today | 590 | 120 |
| Median age today | 13 | 23 |
| Peak year | 2025 | 1925 |
| Best rank | 4,265th girls | 1,891st girls |
| Rank in 2025 | 4,265th | unranked |
| First recorded | 1883 | 1898 |
| Girls / boys | 1,177 / 0 | 370 / 213 |
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 Zells alive today are over 23; half the Zelias are over 13. That is 10 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: Zelia and Zell.