Halina
Of Polish origin, meaning "bright, cheerful, or brilliant".
Name Census estimates that about 882 living Americans carry the first name Halina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Halina today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Halina births was 2006 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Halina. 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 Halina with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
882
~ 1 in 388,610 Americans
Peak year
2006
31 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,922
Tracked since 1915
Census
Halina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,908 people with the first name Halina, which placed it at #3,968 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
#3,968
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,908 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
92.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Halina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halina is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.1%). 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 Halina 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 Halina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White92.0% · 4,514
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 142
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 105
- Black or African American1.7% · 83
- Two or more races1.2% · 61
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Halina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Halina from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 228 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Halina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Halina 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 Halina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Halinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Halina, while Texas, Illinois, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Halina
The name Halina is of Slavic origin, derived from the Greek name Helena, which itself is derived from the Greek word "helene," meaning "bright" or "shining light." The name Halina has been popular in various Slavic cultures, particularly in Poland, Russia, and Ukraine, since ancient times.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled as "Galina" or "Halyna" in different Slavic languages. It is believed that the name made its way into these cultures through the influence of the Byzantine Empire and the spread of Eastern Orthodox Christianity in the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Halina can be found in the Radziwiłł Chronicle, a 15th-century historical manuscript from Poland. The chronicle mentions a Polish noblewoman named Halina, who lived in the late 14th century.
Throughout history, there have been several notable figures who bore the name Halina. One of the most prominent is Halina Konopacka (1900-1989), a Polish artist and sculptor known for her monumental sculptures and public artworks. Another notable Halina is Halina Krzemienska (1912-1999), a Polish actress who appeared in numerous films during the mid-20th century.
In the literary world, Halina Poświatowska (1935-1967) was a celebrated Polish poet whose works explored themes of love, loneliness, and existential angst. Her poetry collections, such as "Hymn miłości" (Hymn to Love) and "Dziewiąte przybliżenie" (The Ninth Approximation), gained her recognition as one of the most influential Polish poets of the 20th century.
Halina Wawelska (1942-2020) was a Polish operatic soprano who had a successful international career, performing in major opera houses around the world. She was particularly renowned for her interpretations of the works of Puccini and Verdi.
In the field of science, Halina Krzywicz-Rynkiewicz (1903-1970) was a Polish physicist and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of nuclear physics and radioactivity. She was one of the first women in Poland to obtain a doctoral degree in physics.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who bore the name Halina throughout history, showcasing the name's enduring presence and significance across various cultural and professional spheres.
People
Halina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Halina as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Halina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Halina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 882 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Halina 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 388,610 US residents.
Is Halina a common name?
We classify Halina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,023 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Halina most popular?
The single biggest year for Halina was 2006, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Halina is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Halina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,908 people with the name Halina, or 1.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,968 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 Halina 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 Halina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Halina appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,907 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Halina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Halina is White at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (2.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.1%). 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 Halina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Halina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (4,514 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 Halina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Halina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Halina 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 Halina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Halina 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 Halina 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 share the name Halina?
Find out how many people share the name Halina on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.