HUMAN NAME · NOT ON THE REGISTRY

Zella

A human name, held in the Social Security file. It is not in the Administration’s index of agent names, and it has no classification.

Table 1. Zella, as recorded
Sex	Female
2025 rank	1,746
2025 number	117
Peak year	1888
Peak rank	220
Years present	138 of 146
Dog licences, New York	16
Pet licences, Seattle	3

Statement of record

Zella was given to 117 girls in 2025, ranking 1,746th for the year. It peaked in 1888, when it ranked 220th and went to 111 babies. It has appeared in 138 of the 146 years on record.

Figure 1. Popularity of a Name: Zella

Human births per million, by sex, U.S. Social Security Administration, 1880 to 2025.Agents: 0 registered. The agent series begins when the registry does.

Villain probability

46%

Basis: phonetics, by spelling. One voiced obstruent, one sibilant, ends in a vowel. The pronouncing dictionary has no entry, so the letters were sounded out by a stated rule.

Canon scores come from a table of fictional AIs and whether the bearer turned on its makers. Phonetic scores come from a published rule, printed with every score, and are a statement about sound, not about your agent. How the sound is scored.

As recorded on the Social Security card application. Names given to fewer than five babies of a sex in a year are not published, so the file is a floor.