Cera
Feminine form of the Latin name "Cera" meaning waxen or made of wax.
Name Census estimates that about 1,365 living Americans carry the first name Cera. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cera today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cera births was 1995 (98 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cera. 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
1.4K
~ 1 in 251,102 Americans
Peak year
1995
98 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,282
Tracked since 1979
Census
Cera in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,344 people with the first name Cera, which placed it at #10,061 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
#10,061
National first-name rank
People counted
1.3K
1,344 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cera
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cera is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.8%) and Black (8.9%). 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 Cera 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 Cera at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.6% · 841
- Hispanic or Latino14.8% · 199
- Black or African American8.9% · 119
- Two or more races7.7% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.5% · 60
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 22
Popularity
Cera: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cera from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 681 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
Cera 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 Cera during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ceras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Cera, while Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cera
The name Cera is believed to have its origins in the Latin language, where it was derived from the word "cera," meaning "wax." This connection suggests that the name may have been initially associated with individuals involved in the production or trade of wax-based products.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cera can be traced back to ancient Roman times. In the 1st century AD, there was a Roman poet named Cera who gained recognition for her lyrical compositions. Unfortunately, little is known about her life beyond her works.
During the Middle Ages, the name Cera appeared in various historical records across Europe. In the 9th century, a Benedictine abbess named Cera was renowned for her piety and leadership at the Monastery of St. Peter in Pavia, Italy.
As the Renaissance period dawned, the name Cera continued to be used, albeit sparingly. In the 15th century, an Italian painter named Cera di Piero was celebrated for her exquisite frescoes adorning churches in Florence and Siena.
In the 17th century, a Spanish noblewoman named Cera de Guzmán played a significant role in the court of King Philip IV. She was known for her influential political connections and her patronage of the arts.
Another notable figure was Cera Boulanger, a French mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 18th century. She made valuable contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and was recognized by the French Academy of Sciences for her work.
Moving into the 19th century, Cera Grimaldi was an Italian opera singer renowned for her powerful soprano voice. She performed at some of the most prestigious opera houses in Europe, including La Scala in Milan and the Palais Garnier in Paris.
While the name Cera has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been carried by individuals from various backgrounds and professions, each leaving their mark in their respective fields.
People
Cera + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cera 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
Cera: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cera?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,365 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cera 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 251,102 US residents.
Is Cera a common name?
We classify Cera as "Rare". It ranks above 91.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,402 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cera most popular?
The single biggest year for Cera was 1995, when 98 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cera 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 Cera in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,344 people with the name Cera, or 0.44 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,061 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 Cera 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 Cera?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cera appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,349 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 Cera?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cera is White at 62.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (14.8%) and Black (8.9%). 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 Cera most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cera in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.6% (841 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 Cera in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cera a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cera 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 Cera still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cera 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 Cera 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 Cera as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Cera on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.