Gabriela
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Meaning
feminine form of Gabriel, traditionally "God is my strength"
The story
Gabriela Mistral thought a lullaby could be a gift to the person singing it. Writing about the songs in Ternura, she suggested that a mother might be giving herself something the child could not yet understand. That was the poet’s insight into a form often addressed to someone very small. Lucila Godoy Alcayaga wrote as Gabriela Mistral, choosing a literary name whose first part is a feminine form of Gabriel, used in Portuguese, Spanish and other languages. Its Hebrew elements refer to God and a strong man or hero, traditionally rendered God is my strength. The Chilean writer, who had also worked as a teacher, became the first Latin American Nobel laureate in literature in 1945, receiving the news in Petrópolis, Brazil. Alongside that public distinction sits her intimate observation about a lullaby: the voice soothing a child may also be tending to its singer.
Gabriela across languages
One shared root links 4 names across 4 languages.
Shared root: from Hebrew Gavriel, traditionally "God is my strength"; Gabriel is the angel who announces Jesus’s birth to Mary in Luke’s Gospel
The constellation
More branches
How popular is Gabriela around the world?
In the United States, 5,917 babies were named Gabriela between 2020 and 2025. In Poland, 1,745 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 24th most common name among girls that year.
Gabriela is on the official records of the United States, Poland, Brazil, Puerto Rico, Chile, Mexico City, Spain, Argentina, Montevideo, Austria, Norway, France, Scotland, Ireland, Canada and England and Wales.
Gabriela crosses languages: it is in the latest top 300 of a Spanish-speaking record and of Brazil’s 2022 census, which counts people of every age. The full list: Spanish and Portuguese
United States
1 in 3,700
In the United States, 5,917 babies were named Gabriela between 2020 and 2025.
Shape drawn from US Social Security baby-name records. Gabriela peaked in the 2000s and the 2010s in nearly equal measure.
Births with a Social Security record. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration
Poland
1 in 140
In Poland, 1,745 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 24th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First names given to children born in Poland by year of birth, 2000–2025, from the PESEL population register (Ministry of Digital Affairs); exact spellings count separately (Łukasz and Lukasz are different names), names given fewer than 5 times in a year were left off the list through 2012 and fewer than 2 times from 2013, and the register also counts children born abroad, so its yearly sums run above Poland’s live births. Shares divide by the register’s own published total for the year, never by births. Source: Ministry of Digital Affairs, PESEL register (dane.gov.pl)
Brazil
1 in 490
At the 2022 census, 416,654 people in Brazil were named Gabriela, the 65th most common name, with a median age of 21.
Among people named Gabriela living in Brazil at the 2022 census, more were born in the 2000s than in any other decade.
people alive at the 2022 census, by decade of birth
The census also counted 16,624 born between 2020 and August 2022, too recent a span to chart. 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
Puerto Rico
1 in 780
In Puerto Rico, 23 babies were named Gabriela in 2025, and 5,776 have carried the name since 1998.
share of that year’s births on record
First given name only, from Social Security records of births in Puerto Rico; any name-sex-year under 5 births is withheld at source. Shares divide by the Puerto Rico Demographic Registry’s count of births on the island; the 2025 count is provisional. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, territory name file (Puerto Rico)
Chile
1 in 880
In Chile, 202 girls were registered as Gabriela in 2021, every accent spelling counted together.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
Mexico City City
1 in 1,000
In Mexico City, there were 114 registrations of Gabriela in 2022.
share of that year’s registrations in the city
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 (4 registrations through 3 Mar) is excluded as partial. Source: Registro Civil of Mexico City, open data portal, registered given names 2000-2023
Spain
#52 · 2024
In Spain, 24,463 residents are named Gabriela, the 168th most common name among women, with a mean age of 28.9 years.
In Spain, Gabriela was the 52nd 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 1,800
In Argentina, 375 newborns were given the name Gabriela 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
Montevideo City
1 in 1,9002011
In Montevideo, 13 girls named Gabriela 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
Austria
1 in 2,700
In Austria, 28 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 217th most common name among girls that year, spellings that differ only by special characters counted together.
share of that year’s births on record
Live births in Austria by year of birth, 1984–2025, from Statistik Austria’s first-name statistics; spellings that differ only by special characters are counted together (umlauts stay apart), every name down to a single birth is published, and the count covers babies with Austrian citizenship only until 2009, every baby from 2010, and from 2015 also births abroad to mothers living in Austria. Shares divide by Statistik Austria’s count of live births from 2010, and before that by the file’s own total for the year. Source: Statistik Austria - data.statistik.gv.at (OGDEXT_VORNAMEN_1, updated 2026-07-09)
Norway
1 in 3,800register 2026
In Norway, 7 girls were given the name Gabriela in 2025.
share of the girls on the register for that year, SSB’s own figure
People who have or have had a Norwegian ID number, emigrants left out, from Statistics Norway’s name statistics (release of January 2026): by year of birth for 1945–2020 (everyone born that year who was ever registered in Norway, including people who registered later and people who have since died) and by year of naming from 2021; only first names carried by 200 or more living people are listed, counts under 4 are withheld, and SSB merges spellings that differ only by letters outside the Norwegian alphabet. The shares are SSB’s own, of the people of that sex and year in that count; the 2025 figure counts the children named that year, and no year is a count of births. Source: Statistics Norway (SSB), table 10467 (updated 2026-01-28)
France
1 in 4,800
In France, about 135 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 391st most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s births on record
Births in France by year of birth, from INSEE’s fichier des prénoms (1900–2025; Mayotte from 2012); exact spellings count separately (Léo and Leo are different names), any spelling under 3 in a year and sex is withheld at source, every count is rounded to the nearest 5 at source, and nametree keeps the spellings that reached 20 in some year. Shares divide by INSEE’s count of births in France from 1957, and before that by the file’s own total for the year; INSEE says the file is not complete before 1946. Source: Insee, fichier des prénoms (last updated 2026-07-16)
Scotland
1 in 5,700
In Scotland, 8 girls named Gabriela were registered in 2024, the 384th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Births registered in Scotland; different spellings count separately but accents are merged at source, and any spelling under 3 in total is suppressed. Source: National Records of Scotland, babies' first names
Ireland
1 in 6,800
In Ireland, 8 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 443rd most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
Exact registered spellings from Irish vital statistics; any name under 3 in a year is withheld at source, and accented spellings (fadas) are recorded reliably only from 2018. Source: Central Statistics Office (Ireland), Irish babies' names
Canada
1 in 7,200
In Canada, 51 girls named Gabriela were born in 2024, the 560th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
First given names from provincial and territorial vital statistics across Canada; any name-sex-year under 5 is excluded at source, and small Quebec counts carry a randomized adjustment made at source. Shares divide by Statistics Canada’s count of live births for the year; the 2024 count is preliminary. Source: Statistics Canada, first names at birth (table 17-10-0147-01)
England and Wales
1 in 7,200
In England and Wales, 81 girls named Gabriela were born in 2025, the 490th most common name among girls that year.
share of that year’s name registrations
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
South Australia
last on record 2015
Gabriela is not on the 2017 record for South Australia, whose registry publishes every name given that year.
The count never rose above 5 in a year, too few to chart.
Births registered in South Australia (not all of Australia) by first name and year of registration, 1944–2017, from the state’s Births, Deaths and Marriages registry, which publishes every name down to a single birth in capitals; a spelling its export repeats inside a year is counted once, and from 2018 only a top 100 is published, so the series ends at 2017. Source: Consumer and Business Services (South Australia), popular baby names
Not on the record in New Zealand: that registry withholds small counts, so rare uses may sit below its floor.
When you meet Gabriela
Most people given the name Gabriela in the United States are teenagers or young adults today.
Estimated from US Social Security birth registrations and typical lifespans; a rough guide, not a rule.
Keep exploring
Italian Brazilian baby names · Spanish baby names · Portuguese and Brazilian baby names
The Gabriela deep dive
Whether you’re naming a baby or exploring your own name’s history, this is a personal letter, not a list: where Gabriela 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 Gabriela fits with your family’s names and surname.
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