Fotini
A feminine Greek name meaning "bright" or "luminous."
Name Census estimates that about 388 living Americans carry the first name Fotini. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Fotini today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Fotini births was 1984 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Fotini. 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
388
~ 1 in 883,387 Americans
Peak year
1984
18 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,996
Tracked since 1969
Census
Fotini in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 746 people with the first name Fotini, which placed it at #15,424 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
#15,424
National first-name rank
People counted
746
746 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
96.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Fotini
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fotini is White at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Fotini 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 Fotini at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White96.8% · 722
- Hispanic or Latino1.6% · 12
- Two or more races0.8% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- Black or African American0.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Fotini: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Fotini from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 118 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Fotini 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 Fotini during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Fotinis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Fotini
The name Fotini is derived from the Greek word "phos" meaning "light". It has its origins in Greek culture and language, dating back to ancient times. The feminine form of the name, Fotini, was originally spelled as Φωτεινή in the Greek alphabet.
Fotini was a popular name among early Christian communities in the Byzantine Empire. It is believed to have been associated with the concept of "enlightenment" and the idea of bringing light into the world. The name appears in several ancient Greek texts and early Christian writings.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Fotini is found in the apocryphal Acts of Photina, which tells the story of a Samaritan woman who encountered Jesus at the well of Sychar and later became a disciple. This woman, known as Photina or Fotini, is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Fotini. One of the most famous was Fotini Tsampika (1872-1960), a Greek actress and singer who gained widespread popularity in the early 20th century. She was renowned for her performances in traditional Greek plays and her contributions to the preservation of Greek cultural heritage.
Another prominent figure was Fotini Despotopoulos (1902-1986), a Greek artist and sculptor known for her avant-garde works and her involvement in the modernist art movement in Greece. Her sculptures and installations were exhibited internationally and celebrated for their innovative approach to form and material.
In the field of literature, Fotini Tsallikoglou (1899-1970) was a prominent Greek author and poet. Her works explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, and she was widely acclaimed for her lyrical and evocative writing style.
Fotini Panou (1915-1986) was a Greek actress who gained fame for her performances in classical Greek tragedies and comedies. She was celebrated for her ability to bring depth and nuance to her characters and was considered one of the greatest actresses of her time.
Additionally, Fotini Vaki (1927-2021) was a renowned Greek singer and actress. She was known for her powerful voice and her ability to convey the emotions and stories of traditional Greek folk songs. Her performances were instrumental in preserving and promoting Greek musical heritage.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Fotini, a name deeply rooted in Greek culture and language, with a rich history and associations with enlightenment and bringing light into the world.
People
Fotini + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Fotini 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
Fotini: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Fotini?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 388 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Fotini 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 883,387 US residents.
Is Fotini a common name?
We classify Fotini as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 410 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Fotini most popular?
The single biggest year for Fotini was 1984, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Fotini is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Fotini in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 746 people with the name Fotini, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,424 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 Fotini 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 Fotini?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Fotini appears almost entirely female. Of the 740 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Fotini?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Fotini is White at 96.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (1.6%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Fotini most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Fotini in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.8% (722 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 Fotini in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Fotini a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Fotini 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 Fotini still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Fotini 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 Fotini 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 Fotini?
See how many people share the name Fotini on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.