Meaning & origin
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1970. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Makela through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 292
- 0 boys · 292 girls
- Most popular year
- 1996
- 19 babies
- 2025
- 0
- Outside the ranked list
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- —
- Too few births to compare
By the numbers
The most recent published U.S. birth count for girls is 6 in 2017. Later missing counts do not mean the name went unused. Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 424 as a first name in 2020; 1,298 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Makela’s family of names
In English usage, Makela as a surname was borrowed from the Finnish form Mäkelä.
The ring: across languages.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
Similar names
If you love Makela, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Makea
“one who is sweet”
>99% girls
Makenzy
Makenzy is a masculine given name from Haitian Creole. It is used in French.
>99% girls
Deiana
“fairy”
>99% girls
Ansa
“one who is constant” · “a virtuous woman”
>99% girls
Maquela
>99% girls
Tehani
“the”
>99% girls
Mikeila
>99% girls
Majenta
>99% girls