Gala
Just forty women in Poland carry it, so most Poles have never met a Gala. The name is Slavic in use but Latin at root, from a word for a woman of Gaul.
Gala Pronunciation
Gala is pronounced GAH-lah (/ˈgala/).
What Gala means
Where Gala comes from and what it has meant to the people who carry it.
Gala carries a Latin root behind a short, Slavic-sounding name. The meaning recorded here, woman from Gaul, points back to Roman Gallia and to the family name Gallus. Saint Galla of Rome, a widow of the sixth century, bore the older form, Galla, and holds her own day in the calendar of saints.
The Slavic side has a face. Elena Ivanovna Diakonova, born in Kazan in 1894, became known to the world as Gala. She was the muse and wife of Salvador Dalí. She kept the short name for the rest of her life.
Two syllables, four letters. Called out on a school register in Kraków, Gala answers before the teacher finishes the surname. Behind those four letters stands Gallia, the old name for Gaul.
How many people are named Gala
1 in 563596 women in Poland is named Gala. 40 people carry it in the 2025 register: rank #6117 among female names.
Gala's popularity over time
Fewer than 2 girls were given the name in 2025. It has been stable for a decade.
Gala as a middle name
Gala is a first name for 40 women in Poland and a middle name for another 11, a 78/22 split. In the women's middle-name ranking it sits 2268th, between Funmilayo (11) and Galit (11).
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#2266 Franciska11
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#2267 Funmilayo11
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#2268 Gala11
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#2269 Galit11
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#2270 Gaurav11