Evita
A feminine name of Spanish origin referencing Eva, meaning "life-giver".
Name Census estimates that about 1,164 living Americans carry the first name Evita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Evita today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Evita births was 1981 (210 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Evita. 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 Evita with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 294,462 Americans
Peak year
1981
210 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,503
Tracked since 1951
Census
Evita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,361 people with the first name Evita, which placed it at #9,970 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
#9,970
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,361 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
38.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Evita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evita is Hispanic at 38.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and White (17.6%). 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 Evita 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 Evita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino38.1% · 519
- Black or African American28.7% · 391
- White17.6% · 240
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.8% · 160
- Two or more races2.6% · 35
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 16
Popularity
Evita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Evita from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 652 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Evita 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 Evita during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Evitas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 15 states and territories. California, New York, Illinois recorded the most babies named Evita, while Pennsylvania, Louisiana, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 29 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Evita
The name Evita is a Spanish diminutive form of the name Eva, which means "life" or "living one" in Hebrew. It originated from the biblical name Eve, the first woman according to the Book of Genesis. Evita is primarily used in Spanish-speaking countries, particularly in Argentina, where it gained significant popularity in the mid-20th century.
The earliest recorded use of the name Evita can be traced back to the 16th century in Spain, where it was a common diminutive form of Eva. It was also used in other Spanish-speaking regions, such as Latin America, during the colonial era. However, the name Evita became particularly associated with María Eva Duarte de Perón (1919-1952), better known as Evita Perón, the influential and charismatic second wife of Argentine President Juan Perón.
Evita Perón played a crucial role in her husband's political career and was revered by the working class for her efforts to improve their lives. She became a powerful figure in Argentine politics and a symbol of women's rights and social justice. Her life and legacy were immortalized in the iconic musical "Evita" by Andrew Lloyd Webber and Tim Rice, which further popularized the name worldwide.
Other notable historical figures with the name Evita include Evita Bezuidenhout (1923-2021), a South African writer and anti-apartheid activist, and Evita Muñoz "Chachita" (1935-2015), a Puerto Rican actress and comedian. Additionally, Evita Garced (1949-2022) was a Mexican pop singer and actress, and Evita Tezeno (1952-2014) was an Argentine dancer and choreographer.
While the name Evita has its roots in Spanish and Hebrew, it has transcended cultural boundaries and gained recognition worldwide, particularly due to its association with Evita Perón and the enduring popularity of the musical bearing her name. The name continues to be used in various countries, carrying a sense of strength, resilience, and a connection to its historical and cultural significance.
People
Evita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Evita as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Evita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Evita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,164 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Evita 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 294,462 US residents.
Is Evita a common name?
We classify Evita as "Rare". It ranks above 91.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,239 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Evita most popular?
The single biggest year for Evita was 1981, when 210 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Evita is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Evita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,361 people with the name Evita, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,970 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 Evita 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 Evita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Evita appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,364 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 Evita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Evita is Hispanic at 38.1%. The next largest groups are Black (28.7%) and White (17.6%). 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 Evita most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Evita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 38.1% (519 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 Evita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Evita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Evita 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 Evita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Evita 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 Evita 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 Evita?
You can see how many Americans are named Evita on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.