Bela

Spellings & scripts●

Locally spelled Бэла in RU Russia, KZ Kazakhstan, TR Türkiye and 3 more and Béla in SK Slovakia, SE Sweden, NL Netherlands and 1 more.

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 12 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Bela is also recorded as 5 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Hindi given name117K records spelled Bela24 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Bangladesh, United Kingdom

  Languages: Hindi, Bangla, Urdu

  Also written বেলা, Béla, Belā, Běla, Belá

• English given name30K records spelled Bela15 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Brazil, India, United Kingdom

  Languages: English, Dutch

  Also written Béla, Belà, Bêla, Bĕļã, Belä

• Indonesian given name11K records spelled Bela9 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Indonesia, India, United States, Malaysia

  Languages: Indonesian, Malay

  Also written 'Bela, Bela', Béla, Bélä, Bëlä

• a separate given name5.8K records spelled Bela8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, Romania, Pakistan

  Also written Béla, Běla, Belà, Belā, Belá

• Polish surname2.9K records spelled Bela8 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Poland, United States, United Kingdom, Romania

  Also written Biała, Belaya, Béla, Biełaja, Bělá

53 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Bela is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• The Hebrew name Bela (בֶּלַע) is generally understood to mean "swallowing," "devouring," or "destruction".

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Derived from the Hebrew root בָּלַע (bala), meaning 'destruction', 'swallowing', or 'devouring'.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• As the firstborn of Benjamin, Bela represents the primary line of inheritance and leadership within the Benjamite tribe.

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• Swallowing; destruction; devouring

  as a name·Biblical Names Compiled Database

• In English, Biblical name

  as a name·Pronouncing Dictionary of Proper Names

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

IN naampy — India given names from state electoral rolls (in-rolls) — 95 years between 1914–2015. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Bela Ib. 1016SKKing of Hungary (1016-1063)
• Béla II of Hungaryb. 1108HUHungarian king (1108-1141)
• Béla III of Hungaryb. 1148HUKing of Hungary and Croatia from 1172 to 1196
• Bela IVb. 1206HUKing of Hungary (1206-1270)
• Béla Bartókb. 1881HUHungarian composer and pianist (1881–1945)
• Bela Lugosib. 1882USHungarian-American actor (1882–1956)
• Béla Balázsb. 1884HUHungarian film critic, aesthetician, writer and poet (1884–1949)
• Béla Kunb. 1886HUHungarian Communist revolutionary and politician, the de facto leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs
• Béla Imrédyb. 1891HUHungarian Prime Minister (1891-1946)
• Béla Tarrb. 1955HUHungarian filmmaker and anarchist (1955–2026)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 583 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Bela?

We estimate roughly 53 thousand people bear Bela (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Bela have the most bearers?

We estimate about 43 thousand people bear Bela in Hungary, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled bela.

Where is Bela most common?

Bela is densest in Hungary, where the national register counts about 1 in 225 people carrying it.

How common is Bela compared with other names?

In Hungary, Bela is the 44th most common given name of 18,750 given names recorded there.

Is Bela a male or female name?

Bela is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Bela mean?

Recorded meaning: Bela is a biblical Hebrew name meaning "to swallow" or "devour."