Recorded 1882–2025 · United States
Novella was most popular in 1923, when 186 American babies were given the name — ranking #943 that year. In 2025 it ranked #4,509, with 69 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 6,272 people named Novella.
Novella first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1882, which makes it about 143 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 140 of the 144 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 6,272 American births named Novella between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 2,420 are estimated to be alive today.
69 American babies were named Novella in 2025, ranking #4,509 that year.
Novella is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 57 births a year, against 34 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +69% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Novella is a girl’s name — 100.0% of the 6,272 Americans given it were girls and 0.0% were boys. In births since 2016 it is 100% girls and 0% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 2,420 Americans named Novella are alive today — 39% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 58 years old, and half are between 12 and 76. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Novella on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org