Candela
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Meaning
“Spanish for 'candle'; short form of Candelaria, the Candlemas name honoring the Virgen de la Candelaria, feast February 2”
The story
Candela is Spanish for candle, and as a name it is the short, bright form of Candelaria, the Candlemas name honoring the Virgen de la Candelaria, whose feast every February 2 recalls the presentation of Jesus in the temple. The devotion began in Tenerife, in the Canary Islands, and traveled everywhere Spanish traveled. What the name is doing now is the real story: Spain's statistics office ranked Candela 27th among newborn girls in 2024, with 983 of them, a fully current fashion built on a very old flame. Brazil's 2022 census counted just 34, all of them women, and the American record holds essentially none, which leaves Candela, for now, a name Spain is keeping largely to itself. Light as a meaning, light as a sound: three open syllables that carry their own glow.
How popular is Candela around the world?
In the United States, Candela is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025. In Montevideo, 36 girls named Candela were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
Candela is on the official records of the United States, Montevideo, Spain, Argentina, Chile and Brazil.
United States
on record
In the United States, Candela is on the Social Security birth record for 2020 to 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Candela has stayed rare in US records the whole time: no peak decade to name.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Montevideo City
1 in 680 · 2011
In Montevideo, 36 girls named Candela were born in 2011, spelling variants counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in the department of Montevideo (not all of Uruguay) by first name and year of birth, 1940–2011, from the city’s civil registry, which writes names in capitals, almost always without accents; counted as spelling groups (accent and punctuation variants merged), nothing is withheld at source, and 2012 is excluded as a partial year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil, Intendencia de Montevideo, Partidas de Registro Civil de Montevideo (Licencia de Datos Abiertos - Uruguay); 2012 dropped as partial
Spain
#27 · 2024
In Spain, 28,070 residents are named Candela, the 151st most common name among women, with a mean age of 13.3 years.
In Spain, Candela was the 27th most common name among girls born in 2024.
Residents of Spain on 1 January 2025. Spain publishes how old a name’s living bearers are, not a birth series, so there is no year chart. Source: INE (Spain), Censo de Población anual, 1 January 2025
Argentina
1 in 2,200
In Argentina, 308 newborns were given the name Candela in 2024.
share of that year’s name registrations
Given-name components of births in Argentina 2012–2024; national cells are lower bounds and no sex split is published. Source: RENAPER (Argentina), Dirección Nacional de Población, given names 2012-2024
Chile
1 in 180,000
In Chile, 1 girl was registered as Candela in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
First-name registrations with Chile’s civil registry by year of registration, 1920–2021, counted as spelling groups (Sofía, Sofia and Sofìa are one name, shown with its most-registered spelling); the registry withholds nothing, nametree keeps the groups that reached 5 registrations in some year, and shares divide by every registration of the year. Source: Servicio de Registro Civil e Identificación (Chile) via the guaguas package, first-name registrations 1920-2021
Brazil
At the 2022 census, 34 people in Brazil were named Candela, ranked 86,756th, with a median age of 20.
People alive and resident in Brazil at the 2022 census, a living-population count, not births; names under 20 are withheld at source. Source: IBGE, Censo Demográfico 2022
England and Wales
last on record 2023
Candela is not on the 2025 record for England and Wales, where spellings under 3 in a year are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 4 in a year, too few to chart.
Birth registrations in England and Wales (not the whole UK); exact spellings are counted separately, and any spelling under 3 in a year is withheld at source. Source: Office for National Statistics, baby names in England and Wales
Mexico City City
last on record 2019
Candela is not on the 2022 record for Mexico City, where small counts are withheld at source.
The count never rose above 3 in a year, too few to chart.
Civil-registry acts in Mexico City by registration year. Counts are lower bounds (names under 6 in a month and borough are removed at source) and count name-instances, not people; compound names are split, so “Maria Jose” counts under each part. 2023, a partial extract through 3 Mar with no cell on record for this name, is excluded. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Not on the record in Puerto Rico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand and Scotland: those registries withhold small counts, so rare uses may sit below their floors.
Not on the France record: nametree keeps spellings that reached 20 births in some year, so rarer uses are not shown. Not on the South Australia record for 1944 to 2017: that registry withholds nothing, so this spelling was not given there in those years.
Keep exploring
The Candela deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Candela truly comes from, how it traveled, and what a century of records reveals. If you have grown a tree on nametree, it also considers how Candela fits with your family’s names and surname.
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