Benedetta
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "blessed" or "prosperous".
Name Census estimates that about 153 living Americans carry the first name Benedetta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Benedetta today is around 50 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Benedetta births was 1921 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Benedetta. 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 Benedetta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
153
~ 1 in 2,240,224 Americans
Peak year
1921
18 babies that year
Average age
50
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,329
Tracked since 1906
Census
Benedetta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 487 people with the first name Benedetta, which placed it at #20,996 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
#20,996
National first-name rank
People counted
487
487 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Benedetta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benedetta is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Benedetta 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 Benedetta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.9% · 433
- Black or African American4.7% · 23
- Two or more races3.1% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino2.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 5
Popularity
Benedetta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Benedetta from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 105 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Benedetta 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 Benedetta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Benedettas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Benedetta
The name Benedetta has its origins in the Latin language, deriving from the word "benedicta," which means "blessed." This name can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when it was commonly used in several regions of Europe, particularly in Italy.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Benedetta can be found in the 13th century, with the Italian mystic and nun, Benedetta Carlini (1591-1661). She was known for her religious visions and miracles, and her life and experiences were documented in a book titled "The Life of Benedetta Carlini."
Another notable figure bearing the name Benedetta was Benedetta Barzini (1900-1989), an Italian journalist and writer. She was one of the first women to work as a war correspondent during World War II and was known for her fearless reporting from the front lines.
In the realm of art, Benedetta Cappa Marinetti (1916-2008) was an Italian painter and sculptor. She was a prominent figure in the Futurist movement and was married to the founder of Futurism, Filippo Tommaso Marinetti.
The name Benedetta also has religious significance, as it is associated with the Benedictine Order, a monastic Catholic religious order founded by St. Benedict in the 6th century. One notable bearer of the name was Benedetta Cambiagia Frescobaldi (1490-1558), an Italian nun who established several Benedictine convents in Florence.
Moving to the world of literature, Benedetta Craveri (1935-2017) was an Italian writer and historian. She wrote extensively on the lives of prominent women in history, including Marie Antoinette and Madame de Pompadour.
While these are just a few examples, the name Benedetta has been carried by numerous individuals throughout history, each leaving their mark in various fields and contributing to the rich tapestry of cultural heritage.
People
Benedetta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Benedetta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Benedetta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Benedetta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 153 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Benedetta 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 2,240,224 US residents.
Is Benedetta a common name?
We classify Benedetta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 414 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Benedetta most popular?
The single biggest year for Benedetta was 1921, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Benedetta is about 50 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Benedetta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 487 people with the name Benedetta, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,996 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 Benedetta 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 Benedetta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Benedetta appears almost entirely female. Of the 486 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Benedetta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Benedetta is White at 88.9%. The next largest groups are Black (4.7%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Benedetta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Benedetta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.9% (433 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 Benedetta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Benedetta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Benedetta 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 Benedetta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Benedetta 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 Benedetta 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 have Benedetta as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.