Nella
A Latin name grown out of Helena, keeping its sense of bright and shining. Rare in Poland and getting rarer: after a peak in the 2010s it now goes to only a handful of girls a year.
Nella Pronunciation
Nella is pronounced NEL-lah (/ˈnɛlla/).
What Nella means
Where Nella comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Nella came into Polish through Latin, a short form clipped from longer names ending in -nella. Its meaning, bright and shining, was inherited from Helen, known in Greek as Helenē. Scholars connect that older name to a root for light, the sort a torch throws off. The brightness arrived by descent.
On a school class register the name sits in two clean syllables. It is easy to call across a room. Nella reads as modern, even while its Latin frame is centuries old. Girls who carry it rarely have to spell it twice at the urząd.
Ask what Nella means and the answer stays near its source. The sense came down from Helen and never strayed: jasna, świetlista, bright and shining.
How many people are named Nella
1 in 34106 women in Poland is named Nella. 661 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #1152 among female names.
Nella's popularity over time
6 girls were given the name in 2025, ranking #881 among newborns. It has been climbing since 2006.
Where parents choose Nella
Nella is most popular in West Pomeranian, 85% above the national average (7 girls born 2019–2025), followed by Lower Silesian (+84%) and Silesian (+47%). It is least common in Lublin and Kuyavian-Pomeranian, 57% and 39% below average respectively.
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West Pomeranian
+85%1 in 12,061 babies
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Lower Silesian
+84%1 in 12,087 babies
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Silesian
+47%1 in 15,172 babies
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Lublin
−57%1 in 51,338 babies
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian
−39%1 in 36,460 babies
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Subcarpathian
−26%1 in 30,141 babies
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West Pomeranian+85% 7 born1 in 12,061 babies+85%
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Lower Silesian+84% 13 born1 in 12,087 babies+84%
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Silesian+47% 15 born1 in 15,172 babies+47%
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Opole+45% 3 born1 in 15,365 babies+45%
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Pomeranian+21% 8 born1 in 18,415 babies+21%
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Łódź+5% 6 born1 in 21,120 babies+5%
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Greater Poland+4% 10 born1 in 21,524 babies+4%
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Lesser Poland−2% 10 born1 in 22,692 babies−2%
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Lubusz−10% 2 born1 in 24,829 babies−10%
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Holy Cross−20% 2 born1 in 27,717 babies−20%
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Masovian−25% 12 born1 in 29,522 babies−25%
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Subcarpathian−26% 4 born1 in 30,141 babies−26%
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Kuyavian-Pomeranian−39% 3 born1 in 36,460 babies−39%
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Lublin−57% 2 born1 in 51,338 babies−57%
Nella as a middle name
Nella is a first name for 661 women in Poland and a middle name for another 77, a 90/10 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 758th, between Monique (77) and Nora (77).
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#756 Kiara77
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#757 Monique77
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#758 Nella77
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#759 Nora77
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#760 Vera77