Citlaly
Star or shooting star, from the Nahuatl language.
Name Census estimates that about 2,773 living Americans carry the first name Citlaly. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Citlaly today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Citlaly births was 2006 (222 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Citlaly. 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
2.8K
~ 1 in 123,604 Americans
Peak year
2006
222 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,971
Tracked since 1988
Census
Citlaly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,221 people with the first name Citlaly, which placed it at #7,019 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
#7,019
National first-name rank
People counted
2.2K
2,221 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Citlaly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Citlaly is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Citlaly 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 Citlaly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.6% · 2,190
- White0.9% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 4
- Black or African American0.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
- Two or more races0.0% · 1
Popularity
Citlaly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Citlaly from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,741 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Citlaly 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 Citlaly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Citlalys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Citlaly, while New Mexico, Oregon, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 153 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Citlaly
The name Citlaly has its origins in the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples of central Mexico. It is believed to have emerged during the pre-Columbian era, before the arrival of Spanish conquistadors in the 16th century.
Citlaly is derived from the Nahuatl words "citlalli" meaning "star" and "tzin" which is an honorific suffix. Therefore, the name Citlaly can be translated as "little star" or "precious star." This suggests that the name may have been given to children who were considered particularly special or precious.
There are no known historical references to the name Citlaly in ancient texts or religious scriptures. However, it is likely that the name was in use among Nahuatl-speaking communities for centuries before the Spanish conquest.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Citlaly comes from the 17th century. Citlaly Ochoterena was a prominent figure in the early colonial era, known for her advocacy for indigenous rights and her efforts to preserve Nahuatl language and culture.
Several other notable individuals have carried the name Citlaly throughout history. Citlaly Gomez (1904-1981) was a Mexican artist and activist who played a significant role in the Mexican muralist movement. Citlaly Pulido (1938-2012) was a renowned Mexican singer and actress, celebrated for her contributions to the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
In the realm of literature, Citlaly Moreno (1922-1998) was a celebrated Mexican poet and writer, whose works explored themes of identity, feminism, and social justice. Citlaly Guerrero (1892-1970) was a pioneering Mexican filmmaker and screenwriter, known for her groundbreaking work in the early years of Mexican cinema.
More recently, Citlaly Mureddu (born 1978) is an Italian-Mexican actress and model who has appeared in numerous films and television shows, both in Mexico and internationally.
People
Citlaly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Citlaly 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
Citlaly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Citlaly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,773 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Citlaly 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 123,604 US residents.
Is Citlaly a common name?
We classify Citlaly as "Rare". It ranks above 94.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,812 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Citlaly most popular?
The single biggest year for Citlaly was 2006, when 222 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Citlaly is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Citlaly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,221 people with the name Citlaly, or 0.74 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,019 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 Citlaly 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 Citlaly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Citlaly appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,217 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 Citlaly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Citlaly is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Citlaly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Citlaly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (2,190 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 Citlaly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Citlaly a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Citlaly 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 Citlaly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Citlaly 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 Citlaly 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 called Citlaly?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.