Cordelia
A feminine name of French and Celtic origin meaning "jewel of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 7,178 living Americans carry the first name Cordelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cordelia today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cordelia births was 2015 (286 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cordelia. 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 Cordelia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.2K
~ 1 in 47,751 Americans
Peak year
2015
286 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,065
Tracked since 1880
Census
Cordelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,674 people with the first name Cordelia, which placed it at #3,223 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
#3,223
National first-name rank
People counted
6.7K
6,674 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
59.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cordelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordelia is White at 59.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.8%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Cordelia 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 Cordelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White59.2% · 3,950
- Black or African American20.8% · 1,387
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 718
- Two or more races5.5% · 365
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 154
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 100
Popularity
Cordelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cordelia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,276 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Cordelia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cordelia 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 Cordelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cordelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Cordelia, while New Hampshire, Louisiana, Idaho recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 145 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cordelia
Cordelia is a feminine given name derived from the French word "cœur" meaning heart, and the Latin word "delicatus" meaning delicate or fine. The name is believed to have originated in medieval France, where it was first recorded in the 12th century.
The name Cordelia is perhaps most famously associated with the character from William Shakespeare's tragedy "King Lear". In the play, Cordelia is the youngest and most beloved daughter of King Lear, who is banished from the kingdom for refusing to flatter her father. The character's name has been interpreted as representing her pure and loving heart.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Cordelia was Cordelia, a 12th-century Countess of Brittany and Duchess of Normandy. She was the daughter of King Henry I of England and his wife, Matilda of Scotland.
Another notable Cordelia was Cordelia of Montefeltre, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 15th century. She was the daughter of Guidantonio da Montefeltro, Duke of Urbino, and was known for her intelligence and beauty.
In the 16th century, Cordelia Hay was a Scottish courtier and a attendant to Mary, Queen of Scots. She was born around 1540 and was a member of the Hay family, a prominent Scottish noble house.
In the 17th century, Cordelia Moïse was a French Huguenot writer and educator. She was born in 1639 and was known for her works on education and her efforts to promote literacy among women.
In the 19th century, Cordelia Throop was an American educator and suffragist. She was born in 1810 and was a pioneer in women's education, founding the Young Ladies' Seminary in New Haven, Connecticut.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Cordelia, highlighting its enduring appeal and rich cultural significance.
People
Cordelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cordelia 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
Cordelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cordelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,178 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cordelia 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 47,751 US residents.
Is Cordelia a common name?
We classify Cordelia as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12,646 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cordelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Cordelia was 2015, when 286 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cordelia is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cordelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,674 people with the name Cordelia, or 2.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,223 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 Cordelia 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 Cordelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cordelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,668 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 Cordelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordelia is White at 59.2%. The next largest groups are Black (20.8%) and Hispanic (10.8%). 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 Cordelia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cordelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 59.2% (3,950 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 Cordelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cordelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cordelia 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 Cordelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cordelia 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 Cordelia 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 the name Cordelia?
Find out how many people have the name Cordelia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.