Herminia
Derived from the Spanish name Erminía, meaning "of German origin".
Name Census estimates that about 1,636 living Americans carry the first name Herminia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Herminia today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herminia births was 1929 (93 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herminia. 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
1.6K
~ 1 in 209,508 Americans
Peak year
1929
93 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,611
Tracked since 1894
Census
Herminia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,410 people with the first name Herminia, which placed it at #2,774 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
#2,774
National first-name rank
People counted
8.4K
8,410 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
82.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Herminia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herminia is Hispanic at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%) and White (2.3%). 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 Herminia 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 Herminia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino82.3% · 6,919
- Asian and Pacific Islander14.5% · 1,223
- White2.3% · 196
- Black or African American0.5% · 42
- Two or more races0.2% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 12
Popularity
Herminia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herminia from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 684 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
Herminia 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 Herminia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Herminias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Herminia, while Massachusetts, Illinois, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 378 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Herminia
The name Herminia has its roots in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is derived from the name Herminius, which itself comes from the Latin word "herma," meaning a square pillar with a bust of the Greek god Hermes on top. Hermes was the messenger god known for eloquence, so the name may have initially signified someone with oratory skills.
The earliest recorded use of the name Herminia was in the 4th century AD, when Saint Herminia was a Christian martyr who lived in the region of Bithynia, which is now part of modern-day Turkey. She was executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. Her feast day is celebrated on September 1st in the Catholic Church.
In the 16th century, the name Herminia appeared in the epic poem "La Gerusalemme Liberata" (Jerusalem Delivered) by the Italian poet Torquato Tasso. The character Herminia was a beautiful Saracen princess who fell in love with the Christian knight Tancred during the Crusades. This literary work helped popularize the name across Europe.
One of the earliest notable individuals named Herminia was Herminia Catalina de Ribera y Velasco (1619-1633), a Spanish noblewoman and daughter of the Viceroy of Naples. She died at a young age but was remembered for her beauty and intelligence.
In the 19th century, Herminia Bracco (1823-1888) was an Italian painter and one of the first women to be admitted to the Accademia di Belle Arti di Firenze (Academy of Fine Arts in Florence).
Another notable figure was Herminia Ibarra de Coronado (1842-1933), a Venezuelan educator and women's rights activist who founded several schools and worked to improve education for girls and women in her country.
The name Herminia also has a connection to the arts, with Herminia Borges Caraballo (1898-1973) being a renowned Puerto Rican poet and writer. Her works often explored themes of nature, love, and the Puerto Rican identity.
Finally, Herminia Albarrán de Visscher (1916-2005) was a Mexican architect and one of the first women to graduate from the National Autonomous University of Mexico's architecture program. She designed several notable buildings and was a pioneer in her field.
People
Herminia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herminia 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
Herminia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herminia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,636 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herminia 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 209,508 US residents.
Is Herminia a common name?
We classify Herminia as "Rare". It ranks above 92.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,757 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herminia most popular?
The single biggest year for Herminia was 1929, when 93 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herminia 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 Herminia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,410 people with the name Herminia, or 2.78 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,774 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 Herminia 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 Herminia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Herminia appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,416 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 Herminia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herminia is Hispanic at 82.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (14.5%) and White (2.3%). 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 Herminia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Herminia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.3% (6,919 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 Herminia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Herminia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herminia 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 Herminia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Herminia 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 Herminia 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 Herminia?
Find out how many people have the name Herminia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.