Isadora
Of Greek origin, a feminine name meaning "gift of Isis".
Name Census estimates that about 3,678 living Americans carry the first name Isadora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isadora today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isadora births was 2024 (192 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isadora. 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 Isadora with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Isadora is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.7K
~ 1 in 93,190 Americans
Peak year
2024
192 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,223
Tracked since 1880
Census
Isadora in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,396 people with the first name Isadora, which placed it at #5,146 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
#5,146
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isadora
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isadora is White at 54.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.8%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Isadora 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 Isadora at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.1% · 1,837
- Hispanic or Latino25.8% · 876
- Black or African American9.2% · 311
- Two or more races7.0% · 238
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 106
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 28
Popularity
Isadora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isadora from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,500 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Isadora remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isadora 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 Isadora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isadoras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 25 states and territories. California, New York, Massachusetts recorded the most babies named Isadora, while Tennessee, Maryland, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isadora
The name Isadora has its roots in the Greek language and culture, originating in ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "Isidoros," which means "gift of Isis." Isis was an ancient Egyptian goddess revered for her divine maternity and feminine power.
Isadora is a feminine variation of the masculine name Isidore, which was relatively common among early Christian saints and scholars. The name gained popularity during the Byzantine era, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and the Eastern Orthodox Church.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Isadora can be found in the writings of the Greek poet Callimachus, who lived in the 3rd century BC. He mentioned a woman named Isadora in one of his elegies, suggesting that the name was in use during the Hellenistic period.
In the 5th century AD, there was a renowned Byzantine abbess named Isadora, who founded a convent in Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). She was known for her piety and wisdom, and her legacy contributed to the name's endurance within the Eastern Orthodox tradition.
During the Renaissance, the name Isadora experienced a revival, particularly in Italy, where it was associated with the humanist movement and the rediscovery of classical Greek and Roman culture. One notable figure from this period was Isadora Agnesi (1718-1799), an Italian mathematician and philosopher who made significant contributions to the field of calculus.
In the 19th century, the name gained further prominence with the birth of Isadora Duncan (1877-1927), an American dancer and choreographer who pioneered a new form of modern dance. Her unconventional and free-spirited approach to dance and life made her a cultural icon, and her use of the name Isadora helped popularize it in the Western world.
Another famous Isadora from the early 20th century was Isadora Zeldin (1910-2001), a Russian-born American artist known for her paintings and portraiture. Her works captured the vibrant cultural scenes of New York City and Paris during the mid-20th century.
In more recent times, Isadora Leyton (1924-2006) was a Chilean writer and journalist who played a significant role in promoting Latin American literature. Her novels and essays explored themes of identity, gender, and sociopolitical issues in Chile and beyond.
People
Isadora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isadora as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Isadora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isadora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,678 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isadora 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 93,190 US residents.
Is Isadora a common name?
We classify Isadora as "Rare". It ranks above 95.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,490 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isadora most popular?
The single biggest year for Isadora was 2024, when 192 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isadora is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isadora in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,396 people with the name Isadora, or 1.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,146 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 Isadora 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 Isadora?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isadora appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,397 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Isadora?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isadora is White at 54.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (25.8%) and Black (9.2%). 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 Isadora most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Isadora in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.1% (1,837 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 Isadora in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isadora a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isadora 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 Isadora still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isadora 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 Isadora 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 Isadora?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Isadora on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.