Cynitha
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "kynthos," meaning "golden" or "precious."
Name Census estimates that about 323 living Americans carry the first name Cynitha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cynitha today is around 60 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cynitha births was 1960 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cynitha. 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
323
~ 1 in 1,061,159 Americans
Peak year
1960
27 babies that year
Average age
60
years old
1983 SSA rank
#10,617
Tracked since 1953
Census
Cynitha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 224 people with the first name Cynitha, which placed it at #35,741 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
#35,741
National first-name rank
People counted
224
224 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
49.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cynitha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cynitha is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (13.8%). 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 Cynitha 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 Cynitha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White49.6% · 111
- Black or African American32.6% · 73
- Hispanic or Latino13.8% · 31
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.8% · 4
- Two or more races1.3% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 2
Popularity
Cynitha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cynitha from the 1950s through to the 1980s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 202 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cynitha 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 Cynitha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Cynitha
The given name Cynitha is a modern invented name with no known historical origin or etymology. It does not appear to be derived from any known language or culture, and there are no records of its use in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records.
Despite its lack of historical roots, there have been a few individuals who have been given the name Cynitha over the years. One of the earliest recorded instances was Cynitha Michaels, a British actress born in 1923 who appeared in several stage productions and television shows in the 1950s and 1960s.
Another notable individual with this name was Cynitha Holloway, an American painter and sculptor who lived from 1932 to 2008. Her works were exhibited in galleries across the United States and she was recognized for her unique style that blended abstract and figurative elements.
In the field of literature, Cynitha Rowan was an Irish novelist and poet who published several works in the late 20th century, including the acclaimed novel "The Whispers of Autumn" in 1987. She was born in 1945 and passed away in 2012.
One of the more recent individuals with the name Cynitha was Cynitha Kelley, an American environmental activist and writer born in 1975. She authored several books on sustainable living and was a prominent figure in the green movement.
Lastly, Cynitha Arrington was a Canadian mathematician and computer scientist who made significant contributions to the field of cryptography. She was born in 1968 and worked as a professor at the University of Toronto until her retirement in 2015.
While the name Cynitha is not rooted in historical or cultural traditions, these individuals have helped to establish its presence and meaning in modern times through their various accomplishments and contributions to society.
People
Cynitha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cynitha 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
Cynitha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cynitha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cynitha 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 1,061,159 US residents.
Is Cynitha a common name?
We classify Cynitha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 391 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cynitha most popular?
The single biggest year for Cynitha was 1960, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cynitha is about 60 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cynitha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 224 people with the name Cynitha, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,741 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 Cynitha 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 Cynitha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cynitha leans strongly female. 224 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Cynitha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cynitha is White at 49.6%. The next largest groups are Black (32.6%) and Hispanic (13.8%). 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 Cynitha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cynitha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.6% (111 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 Cynitha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cynitha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cynitha 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 Cynitha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cynitha 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 Cynitha 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 Cynitha?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.