Camila
Camila Name Meaning, Origin & Popularity
kah-MEE-lah
Meaning of Camila: Camila is the Spanish and Portuguese form of Camilla, derived from Latin camillus and camilla. The Latin terms named a freeborn youth who assisted priests at religious ceremonies. The role carried connotations of purity and service in ancient Roman religious practice, and the name reflects that ceremonial dignity.
According to etymology records, Roman poet Virgil fixed Camilla in literary memory through the Aeneid.
There Camilla appears as a warrior maiden of the Volsci tribe, swift enough to run across water without wetting her feet. That portrait gave the name a martial nobility alongside its priestly roots.
What Does Camila Mean? Origin & Etymology
Camila spread across Latin America through Catholic tradition and shared literary culture from Spain and Portugal. The single-L spelling held as the dominant regional form rather than the Latinate Camilla, marking it as a distinctly Ibero-American variant through the 19th and 20th centuries.
United States SSA records at ssa.gov show Camila entering the US top 100 in 2012 and climbing to #11 in 2024 with 7,608 births. Cuban-American singer Camila Cabello, who rose to fame with Fifth Harmony after 2012, accelerated awareness of the spelling among US parents.
Camila peaked in 2020 and sustains appeal through phonetic elegance, cross-cultural familiarity, and a soft cadence. The Spanish form outperforms the classical Camilla on US charts by roughly three to one since 2015, signalling a shift in parental preference toward the Ibero-American variant.
Related forms include Camilla in Italian, English, and Scandinavian registers, Camille in French, and Kamilla in Hungarian and Russian. Notably, the short form Cami charts as a standalone US name from 2018. The name's flexibility across Romance and Slavic languages supports its steady global profile.
How Popular Is Camila?
Numerology & Symbolism of Camila
Based on Pythagorean numerology — a traditional system linking name letters to numbers. Presented for cultural interest.
Camila – Similar Names & Alternatives
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Frequently Asked Questions about Camila
What does Camila mean?
Camila means priestly attendant or noble, from Latin camilla. Virgil’s Aeneid featured Camilla as a warrior maiden, adding heroic literary associations to the name.
What is the origin of Camila?
How popular is Camila in the US?
Camila ranks 11 for girls in the US as of 2024, per SSA data. It entered the top 10 briefly in 2020. Camila ranks 1 in Chile and Colombia.
What are variants of Camila?
Is Camila more popular for girls or boys?
Camila is given almost exclusively to girls. It ranks 11 for girls in the US in 2024 and does not appear in the top 1000 boys’ names.
Camila – Name Variants & Spellings
| Variant | Language |
|---|---|
| Camylla | Brazilian Portuguese variant |
| Camille | French |
| Kamilla | Hungarian/Danish |
| Camilla | Italian/English/Scandinavian |
| Kamila | Polish/Czech |