Fun Facts About the Name Amela
- 467 babies named Amela: U.S. records list 467 babies given the name Amela from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Amela Mean?
Amela is a feminine given name whose most usual explanation links it to the Arabic word amal, meaning "hope," with the ending -ela reflecting Slavic naming patterns. A second explanation treats it as a short or altered form of Amalija (Amalia), a name built on the Germanic element amal, generally glossed as "work" or "labor," which also stands behind Amelia. These are genuinely different origins in different languages, and the available accounts do not agree on which fits Amela; the "hope" reading is the customary interpretation in Muslim South Slavic use, while the Amalia connection is an etymological argument from the shape of the name. Both are reported here rather than presented as settled.
Amela Name History & Origins
Amela is best documented as a personal name in Bosnia and Herzegovina, where it is used especially by Bosniak families, and it also appears in Croatia, Serbia, Montenegro, and in diaspora communities. It belongs to a cluster of similar Bosniak feminine names, among them Amila, that sit at the meeting point of Arabic-derived Muslim naming and the Slavic names long common in the region. The exact route by which the name entered regular use is not clearly recorded, so it is described here by its documented use rather than by a claimed point of origin.
Where Amela is understood through Arabic, it is grouped with other Bosniak names formed from Arabic roots, and the meaning "hope" is treated as a customary interpretation rather than a literal translation of a native Slavic word. Where it is instead connected with Amalija, it is placed in the same European family of names as Amalia and Amelia, which spread through the Habsburg lands and the Balkans. Use of the name stayed largely regional into the twentieth century and then traveled with emigrants from the former Yugoslavia to Western Europe and North America.
How Popular is the Name Amela?
Amela has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2020. Its best rank was #5,494 in 2020.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #8,398 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2024 | #7,593 | 14 | 0.0009% |
| 2023 | #8,085 | 13 | 0.0008% |
| 2022 | #5,998 | 20 | 0.0012% |
| 2021 | #6,187 | 19 | 0.0012% |
| 2020 | #5,494 | 22 | 0.0014% |
| 2019 | #8,634 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2018 | #9,860 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2017 | #5,837 | 21 | 0.0012% |
| 2016 | #8,433 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2015 | #6,739 | 18 | 0.0010% |
| 2014 | #8,079 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2013 | #9,070 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2012 | #8,237 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2011 | #9,762 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2010 | #8,735 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2009 | #8,484 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 2008 | #6,818 | 19 | 0.0010% |
| 2007 | #9,046 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 2006 | #7,170 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2005 | #10,973 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #6,794 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2003 | #10,481 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2002 | #11,179 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #6,974 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2000 | #9,207 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1999 | #6,504 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1998 | #9,302 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #8,368 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #10,631 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #6,275 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1992 | #11,811 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1991 | #9,368 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1988 | #9,286 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1986 | #10,971 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1985 | #8,363 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1984 | #10,485 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #10,330 | 5 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Amela Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
You are seeking freedom, opportunities to enjoy life: to make love, to go places and to do things. You are very adventurous and willing to take risk to achieve your objectives. New ways and new experiences can't satisfy your restless nature. One adventure leads you to another. You are honest and fair, because you know that this is the only way to receive justice and honesty from other people. But your personal growth is vital for you, and it is difficult to be tied down by rules and obligations. Your restless spirit might best controlled by choosing the field of work that meet your demand for action and adventure.
✦ Amela's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Amela's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.