Carmelina
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "innocence; inexperienced woman or girl".
Name Census estimates that about 840 living Americans carry the first name Carmelina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carmelina today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carmelina births was 1926 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carmelina. 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.
People living today
840
~ 1 in 408,041 Americans
Peak year
1926
39 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,419
Tracked since 1910
Census
Carmelina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,332 people with the first name Carmelina, which placed it at #6,767 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
#6,767
National first-name rank
People counted
2.3K
2,332 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
56.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carmelina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmelina is Hispanic at 56.9%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Carmelina 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 Carmelina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino56.9% · 1,328
- White37.2% · 868
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.4% · 79
- Black or African American1.5% · 35
- Two or more races0.9% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Carmelina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carmelina from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 287 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
Carmelina 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 Carmelina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Carmelinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, Connecticut, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Carmelina, while New Jersey, California, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 55 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Carmelina
The given name Carmelina is derived from the Latin word "carmelo" which means "garden" or "orchard". It is believed to have originated in the region of Mount Carmel in modern-day Israel, where a religious order of monks known as the Carmelites was established in the 12th century.
The name Carmelina has its roots in the biblical tradition, as Mount Carmel is mentioned in the Old Testament as a place of spiritual significance. It is associated with the prophet Elijah, who is said to have defeated the prophets of Baal on Mount Carmel.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Carmelina can be found in the writings of St. Teresa of Avila, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun. She is known to have used the name Carmelina in reference to the Carmelite Order and its devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carmelina. One of the most famous was Carmelina Nava (1876-1964), an Italian operatic soprano who performed at prestigious venues such as La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera.
Another notable Carmelina was Carmelina Lalli-Teodori (1870-1951), an Italian painter and sculptor who was part of the Macchiaioli movement and known for her depictions of female subjects.
In the realm of literature, Carmelina Sari (1888-1951) was an Italian writer and journalist who wrote several novels and short stories, including "La Sperduta di Palazzo Pitti" (The Lost Woman of Palazzo Pitti).
The name Carmelina also has a connection to religious figures, such as Carmelina Curcio (1808-1876), an Italian Catholic nun who founded the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of the Apparition.
Another notable Carmelina was Carmelina Aguilar (1900-1969), a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
While the name Carmelina has its roots in the Latin and biblical traditions, it has been widely used across various cultures and regions, particularly in Italy, Spain, and Latin American countries.
People
Carmelina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carmelina 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
Carmelina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carmelina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 840 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carmelina 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 408,041 US residents.
Is Carmelina a common name?
We classify Carmelina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,471 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carmelina most popular?
The single biggest year for Carmelina was 1926, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carmelina 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 Carmelina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,332 people with the name Carmelina, or 0.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #6,767 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 Carmelina 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 Carmelina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmelina appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,330 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Carmelina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmelina is Hispanic at 56.9%. The next largest groups are White (37.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.4%). 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 Carmelina most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Carmelina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.9% (1,328 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 Carmelina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carmelina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carmelina 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 Carmelina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carmelina 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 Carmelina 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 Carmelina?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.