Camillia
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "helper to the priest".
Name Census estimates that about 1,309 living Americans carry the first name Camillia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Camillia today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Camillia births was 1987 (59 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Camillia. 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 Camillia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 261,844 Americans
Peak year
1987
59 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,402
Tracked since 1932
Census
Camillia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,192 people with the first name Camillia, which placed it at #10,960 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
#10,960
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,192 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
39.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Camillia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Camillia is Black at 39.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.8%) and Hispanic (14.3%). 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 Camillia 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 Camillia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American39.4% · 470
- White37.8% · 450
- Hispanic or Latino14.3% · 171
- Two or more races5.4% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 18
Popularity
Camillia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Camillia from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 340 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Camillia 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 Camillia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Camillias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Camillia, while Alabama, Georgia, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Camillia
The name Camillia is derived from the Latin word "Camillus," which means "attendant or acolyte" and was a cognomen used in ancient Rome. The name was initially associated with young male attendants who assisted priests during religious ceremonies. It later evolved into a feminine name, likely influenced by the camellia flower, a genus of flowering plants native to Eastern and Southern Asia.
In ancient Rome, the name Camillus was borne by several notable figures, including Marcus Furius Camillus, a Roman patrician and military leader who lived from 446 BC to 365 BC. He played a pivotal role in the war against the Gauls and was instrumental in the defense of Rome during the Gallic invasion in 390 BC.
The earliest recorded use of the feminine form Camillia dates back to the 16th century in Italy. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Camillia Battista Varano (1458-1528), an Italian noblewoman and the ruler of the Duchy of Camerino.
In the 17th century, Camillia Luigia Paulli (1608-1681) was an Italian painter and engraver active in Rome. She is known for her still-life paintings and for being one of the few female artists of her time to achieve recognition.
During the 18th century, Camillia Whitehead (1737-1804) was an English poet and writer who published several works, including "The Morning Walk" and "The Daughter's Return."
In the 19th century, Camillia Fawkes (1819-1909) was a British philanthropist and social reformer who worked to improve the living conditions of working-class women and children in London.
Another notable figure bearing this name was Camillia Urso (1842-1902), an Italian-American violinist who was one of the first internationally acclaimed female soloists and performed extensively throughout Europe and the United States.
While the name Camillia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been borne by individuals from various backgrounds and cultures, reflecting its versatility and enduring appeal.
People
Camillia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Camillia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Camillia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Camillia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,309 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Camillia 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 261,844 US residents.
Is Camillia a common name?
We classify Camillia as "Rare". It ranks above 91.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,469 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Camillia most popular?
The single biggest year for Camillia was 1987, when 59 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Camillia 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 Camillia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,192 people with the name Camillia, or 0.39 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,960 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 Camillia 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 Camillia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Camillia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,190 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 Camillia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Camillia is Black at 39.4%. The next largest groups are White (37.8%) and Hispanic (14.3%). 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 Camillia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Camillia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.4% (470 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 Camillia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Camillia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Camillia 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 Camillia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Camillia 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 Camillia 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 are named Camillia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.