Cosimo
Derived from the Italian form of the Greek name Kosmas, meaning "order, decency."
Name Census estimates that about 515 living Americans carry the first name Cosimo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cosimo today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cosimo births was 1927 (30 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cosimo. 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 Cosimo with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
515
~ 1 in 665,542 Americans
Peak year
1927
30 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,081
Tracked since 1911
Census
Cosimo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 774 people with the first name Cosimo, which placed it at #14,994 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
#14,994
National first-name rank
People counted
774
774 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cosimo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cosimo is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Cosimo 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 Cosimo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.1% · 713
- Hispanic or Latino4.4% · 34
- Two or more races3.1% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
Popularity
Cosimo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cosimo 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 218 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Cosimo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cosimo 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 Cosimo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Cosimos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Cosimo, while California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 65 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cosimo
The name Cosimo has its origins in the Greek language, specifically derived from the words "kosmos," meaning "order" or "decorum," and "kosmeō," meaning "to adorn" or "to arrange." The name was prevalent in ancient Greek culture and can be traced back to the 6th century BC.
In the early days of the Byzantine Empire, the name Cosimo gained popularity among the Greek-speaking population. It was often associated with individuals who possessed a sense of order, discipline, and elegance. Several notable figures from this period bore the name, including Cosimo of Jerusalem, a 6th-century monk and theologian known for his scholarly works.
During the Renaissance era, the name Cosimo experienced a resurgence in Italy, particularly in Florence. One of the most famous bearers of this name was Cosimo de' Medici (1389-1464), a prominent figure in the Medici family and a renowned patron of the arts and humanities. His influence and wealth contributed significantly to the cultural and artistic renaissance in Florence.
Another notable figure was Cosimo I de' Medici (1519-1574), the first Grand Duke of Tuscany. He was a skilled statesman and military leader who played a crucial role in consolidating the power of the Medici dynasty in the region.
In the realm of literature, Cosimo III de' Medici (1642-1723), the Grand Duke of Tuscany, was a passionate scholar and collector of books. His vast library, known as the Laurentian Library, is considered one of the most significant repositories of manuscripts and rare books from the Renaissance period.
Cosimo Rosselli (1439-1507) was an Italian Renaissance painter known for his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel and his contributions to the development of early Renaissance art in Florence.
Beyond the Medici family and the Italian Renaissance, the name Cosimo has been borne by various individuals throughout history, such as Cosimo Tura (1430-1495), an Italian Renaissance painter known for his innovative use of perspective and his depictions of mythological subjects.
Overall, the name Cosimo has a rich history rooted in ancient Greek culture, flourishing during the Byzantine Empire and later becoming prominent in Italy during the Renaissance period, particularly associated with the influential Medici family and their patronage of the arts and humanities.
People
Cosimo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cosimo 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
Cosimo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cosimo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 515 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cosimo 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 665,542 US residents.
Is Cosimo a common name?
We classify Cosimo as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,000 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cosimo most popular?
The single biggest year for Cosimo was 1927, when 30 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cosimo is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cosimo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 774 people with the name Cosimo, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,994 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 Cosimo 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 Cosimo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cosimo appears almost entirely male. Of the 779 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Cosimo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cosimo is White at 92.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (4.4%) and Two or More Races (3.1%). 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 Cosimo most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cosimo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.1% (713 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 Cosimo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cosimo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cosimo in the SSA data are male. 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 Cosimo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cosimo 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 Cosimo 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 common is the name Cosimo?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.