Agatha
Feminine form of Greek "agathos" meaning "good", representing kindness and virtue.
Name Census estimates that about 3,480 living Americans carry the first name Agatha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Agatha today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Agatha births was 1918 (218 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Agatha. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Agatha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 98,493 Americans
Peak year
1918
218 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,618
Tracked since 1880
Census
Agatha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,260 people with the first name Agatha, which placed it at #3,774 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#3,774
National first-name rank
People counted
5.3K
5,260 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Agatha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Agatha is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (24.1%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Agatha described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Agatha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.0% · 2,891
- Black or African American24.1% · 1,269
- Hispanic or Latino9.5% · 499
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.5% · 394
- Two or more races2.6% · 135
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 72
Popularity
Agatha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Agatha from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 1,654 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Agatha remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Agatha by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Agatha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Agathas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 34 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, Texas recorded the most babies named Agatha, while Connecticut, Colorado, Washington recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 112 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Agatha
The name Agatha is derived from the ancient Greek word "agathos," which means good, admirable, or virtuous. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was a relatively common name given to girls.
Agatha gained widespread popularity during the early days of Christianity, particularly in the 3rd and 4th centuries. It was embraced by many Christian families as a name symbolizing virtue, goodness, and moral character. The name was also borne by several early Christian saints and martyrs, further cementing its significance within the faith.
One of the most notable historical figures named Agatha was Saint Agatha, a Sicilian martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. According to legend, she endured torture and had her breasts cut off for refusing to renounce her Christian faith. Her martyrdom and unwavering devotion made her a revered figure in the Catholic Church, and she is recognized as the patron saint of nurses, breast cancer patients, and bell-ringers.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Agatha was Agatha Christie, the legendary British mystery writer born in 1890 and died in 1976. Her novels, including classics like "Murder on the Orient Express" and "And Then There Were None," have sold billions of copies worldwide and have been adapted for film and television numerous times.
In the realm of literature, Agatha is also the name of a character in Shakespeare's play "The Merchant of Venice." Although a minor character, her presence adds depth and complexity to the play's exploration of societal norms and prejudices.
Other notable individuals named Agatha throughout history include Agatha of Sicily (c. 235 - 251 AD), a Christian martyr and saint; Agatha of Hungary (c. 1215 - 1292), a Hungarian princess and Franciscan nun; and Agatha Barbara Bunner (1841 - 1907), an American novelist and writer.
While the name Agatha has Greek origins, it has been embraced and celebrated across various cultures and religions over the centuries. Its enduring popularity can be attributed to its positive connotations of goodness, virtue, and admirable character traits, making it a timeless and meaningful choice for parents.
People
Agatha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Agatha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Agatha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Agatha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,480 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Agatha going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 98,493 US residents.
Is Agatha a common name?
We classify Agatha as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,369 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Agatha most popular?
The single biggest year for Agatha was 1918, when 218 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Agatha is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Agatha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,260 people with the name Agatha, or 1.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,774 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Agatha in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Agatha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Agatha appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,264 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Agatha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Agatha is White at 55.0%. The next largest groups are Black (24.1%) and Hispanic (9.5%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Agatha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Agatha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.0% (2,891 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Agatha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Agatha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Agatha in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Agatha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Agatha in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Agatha can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many Americans are named Agatha?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.