Fleta
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "to float smoothly".
Name Census estimates that about 154 living Americans carry the first name Fleta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fleta today is around 81 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fleta births was 1917 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fleta. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Fleta is about 81 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Fletas were born before 1955.
People living today
154
~ 1 in 2,225,678 Americans
Peak year
1917
46 babies that year
Average age
81
years old
1962 SSA rank
#5,467
Tracked since 1881
Census
Fleta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 284 people with the first name Fleta, which placed it at #30,583 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
#30,583
National first-name rank
People counted
284
284 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fleta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fleta is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Fleta 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 Fleta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.2% · 205
- Black or African American22.2% · 63
- Two or more races3.5% · 10
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 3
Popularity
Fleta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fleta from the 1880s through to the 1960s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 336 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fleta 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 Fleta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fletas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. North Carolina, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Fleta, while Oklahoma, Kansas, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 25 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Fleta
The name Fleta finds its origins in the Latin language, likely derived from the word "fletus," which means "weeping" or "lament." It is believed to have emerged during the medieval period, possibly as a diminutive form of a longer name or as a descriptive term for a child born amidst sorrow or tears.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fleta can be found in the "Fleta" treatise, a legal text written in Latin around 1290 during the reign of Edward I in England. This work, which addressed various aspects of English law, may have been named after its author or compiler, whose identity remains uncertain.
In the 14th century, Fleta de Wileby, an English landowner and heiress, is mentioned in historical records. She was born around 1310 and inherited substantial properties in Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire, making her a notable figure in her time.
Another prominent figure bearing the name Fleta was Fleta Caldwell Elzey (1888-1965), an American educator and suffragist. She played a significant role in the women's suffrage movement in Arkansas and served as the president of the Arkansas Woman Suffrage Association from 1914 to 1919.
Fleta Springer Fennell (1890-1972) was an influential American mathematician and educator. She made significant contributions to the field of mathematics education and served as the president of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics from 1947 to 1948.
Fleta Hylander (1914-1992) was a Swedish actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions throughout her career. She is remembered for her roles in several popular Swedish films during the 1940s and 1950s.
While the name Fleta may have originated from a Latin word with a somber meaning, it has been embraced by individuals across different cultures and eras, each leaving their unique mark on the history and legacy of this name.
People
Fleta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fleta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with F
Other first names starting with F with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Fleta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fleta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fleta 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 2,225,678 US residents.
Is Fleta a common name?
We classify Fleta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,333 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fleta most popular?
The single biggest year for Fleta was 1917, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fleta is about 81 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fleta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 284 people with the name Fleta, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,583 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 Fleta 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 Fleta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fleta leans strongly female. 291 people counted with this name were female (98.6%), compared with 4 male bearers (1.4%). 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 Fleta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fleta is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.2%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Fleta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fleta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.2% (205 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 Fleta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fleta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fleta 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 Fleta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fleta 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 Fleta 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 Americans are named Fleta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.