Asia
The feminine name of Greek origin used for the continent Asia.
Name Census estimates that about 31,687 living Americans carry the first name Asia. It is a predominantly female name (99.4% of registrations). The average person named Asia today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Asia births was 1997 (1,540 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Asia. 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 Asia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Asia is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 196 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
32K
~ 1 in 10,817 Americans
Peak year
1997
1,540 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2007 SSA rank
#1,689
Tracked since 1945
Census
Asia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 28,069 people with the first name Asia, which placed it at #1,306 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
#1,306
National first-name rank
People counted
28K
28,069 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
64.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Asia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asia is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Asia 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 Asia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American64.9% · 18,206
- White11.2% · 3,147
- Two or more races9.5% · 2,658
- Hispanic or Latino9.1% · 2,543
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.8% · 1,337
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 178
Gender
Gender distribution for Asia
Out of the 32,600 babies given the name Asia since 1880, 99.4% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Asia as a male name
- Ranked #12,525 in 2007
- 5 male births in 2007
- Peak: 1989 (18 births)
Asia as a female name
- Ranked #1,689 in 2024
- 120 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1997 (1,532 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asia appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,073 people counted with this name, 99.2% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Asia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Asia from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 12,739 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Asia 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 Asia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Asias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Asia, while Maine, Montana, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 671 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Asia
The given name Asia is derived from the Greek word "Asia", which referred to the region now known as Asia Minor or Anatolia, located in modern-day Turkey. The name's origins can be traced back to ancient Greek mythology, where it is believed to be associated with the name of a nymph or goddess.
In ancient Greek literature, the name Asia appears in various works, including the epic poems of Homer and Hesiod. It was also mentioned in historical accounts by writers such as Herodotus and Strabo, who described the geographical region of Asia Minor.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Asia was Asia, the daughter of Teucer, who was mentioned in Greek mythology. Another notable figure was Asia, the daughter of Oceanus and Tethys, who was a sea nymph in Greek mythology.
Throughout history, several influential women have borne the name Asia. One example is Asia Argento, an Italian actress and filmmaker born in 1975. Another is Asia Carrera, an American former adult film actress and entrepreneur born in 1973.
In the realm of literature, Asia Booth Clarke, an American writer and educator born in 1835, was known for her works on education and women's rights. Asia Wurf, a German author and activist born in 1986, has written extensively on topics related to intersectional feminism and disability rights.
Historically, the name Asia has also been associated with royalty. Asia, Princess of Saxony, was a German princess born in 1677 who married Prince Ferdinand of Courland.
While the name Asia has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and literature, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world over time.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Asia
People
Asia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Asia 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
Asia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Asia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31,687 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Asia 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 10,817 US residents.
Is Asia a common name?
We classify Asia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32,600 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Asia most popular?
The single biggest year for Asia was 1997, when 1,540 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Asia is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Asia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 28,069 people with the name Asia, or 9.29 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,306 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 Asia 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 Asia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asia appears almost entirely female. Of the 28,073 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Asia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asia is Black at 64.9%. The next largest groups are White (11.2%) and Two or More Races (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 Asia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Asia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.9% (18,206 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 Asia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Asia a female name?
Yes, 99.4% of people registered as Asia 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 Asia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Asia 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 Asia 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 people share the name Asia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.