Geneva
From a French place name, meaning "a calm place between hills".
Name Census estimates that about 24,387 living Americans carry the first name Geneva. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Geneva today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Geneva births was 1924 (2,590 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Geneva. 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 Geneva with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Geneva is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 309 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1920s, recent registration numbers for Geneva have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
24K
~ 1 in 14,055 Americans
Peak year
1924
2,590 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
1968 SSA rank
#1,603
Tracked since 1880
Census
Geneva in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 27,610 people with the first name Geneva, which placed it at #1,324 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
#1,324
National first-name rank
People counted
28K
27,610 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
9.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Geneva
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geneva is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.3%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Geneva 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 Geneva at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.5% · 15,315
- Black or African American30.3% · 8,358
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 2,177
- Two or more races3.7% · 1,024
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 455
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 281
Gender
Gender distribution for Geneva
Out of the 88,940 babies given the name Geneva since 1880, 99.7% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Geneva as a male name
- Ranked #4,342 in 1968
- 5 male births in 1968
- Peak: 1926 (16 births)
Geneva as a female name
- Ranked #1,603 in 2024
- 130 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1924 (2,582 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geneva appears almost entirely female. Of the 27,609 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Geneva: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Geneva from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 23,383 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
Geneva 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 Geneva during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Genevas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 46 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Geneva, while Delaware, Connecticut, New Hampshire recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,691 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Geneva
The name Geneva has its origins in the Late Latin name Genava, which was derived from the Celtic root genu, meaning "knee" or "bend." This refers to the geographical location of the city of Geneva, situated near a bend in the Rhone River. The name first appeared in written records around the 1st century BCE, when it was used to refer to the settlement that would eventually become the modern city of Geneva, Switzerland.
The earliest recorded use of Geneva as a given name dates back to the Middle Ages, when it was occasionally bestowed upon children born in or near the city of Geneva. However, the name did not gain widespread popularity until the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation. This was largely due to the influence of John Calvin, the prominent French theologian and reformer who established Geneva as a center of Calvinism.
One of the most famous historical figures named Geneva was Geneva Mellon Britton (1876-1935), an American philanthropist and heiress to the Mellon banking fortune. She donated significant sums of money to various educational and cultural institutions, including the University of Pittsburgh and the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C.
Another notable individual with the name Geneva was Geneva Carr (1880-1964), an American actress and singer who appeared in numerous Broadway productions and early Hollywood films. She is particularly remembered for her role in the 1915 film adaptation of Alice in Wonderland.
In the realm of literature, Geneva Ellsworth (1919-1992) was an American author and educator who wrote several novels and short stories, including the award-winning book "The Jackdaw and the Rainfields." Her works often explored themes of family, identity, and the complexities of human relationships.
In the field of science, Geneva Sayre (1903-1993) was an American physicist and educator who made significant contributions to the understanding of atomic structure and quantum mechanics. She was also a pioneer in promoting the participation of women in science and engineering.
Finally, Geneva Carr (born 1971) is a contemporary American actress known for her roles in television shows such as Bull, The Get Down, and Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt. She has received critical acclaim for her performances and continues to work in both television and film.
People
Geneva + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Geneva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Geneva: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Geneva?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24,387 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Geneva 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 14,055 US residents.
Is Geneva a common name?
We classify Geneva as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 88,940 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Geneva most popular?
The single biggest year for Geneva was 1924, when 2,590 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Geneva is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Geneva in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 27,610 people with the name Geneva, or 9.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,324 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 Geneva 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 Geneva?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Geneva appears almost entirely female. Of the 27,609 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Geneva?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Geneva is White at 55.5%. The next largest groups are Black (30.3%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Geneva most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Geneva in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.5% (15,315 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 Geneva in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Geneva a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Geneva 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 Geneva still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Geneva 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 Geneva 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 Geneva as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.