Latisha
French feminine name derived from the Provençal name Letitia, meaning "joy, gladness".
Name Census estimates that about 17,150 living Americans carry the first name Latisha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Latisha today is around 43 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Latisha births was 1979 (1,180 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Latisha. 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 Latisha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
17K
~ 1 in 19,986 Americans
Peak year
1979
1,180 babies that year
Average age
43
years old
1989 SSA rank
#5,028
Tracked since 1948
Census
Latisha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 14,575 people with the first name Latisha, which placed it at #1,930 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
#1,930
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
14,575 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
4.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
70.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Latisha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latisha is Black at 70.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Latisha 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 Latisha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American70.0% · 10,207
- White17.4% · 2,530
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 799
- Two or more races4.6% · 672
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.9% · 283
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 84
Gender
Gender distribution for Latisha
Out of the 18,444 babies given the name Latisha since 1880, 99.8% 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.
Latisha as a male name
- Ranked #5,028 in 1989
- 10 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (10 births)
Latisha as a female name
- Ranked #12,865 in 2023
- 7 female births in 2023
- Peak: 1979 (1,175 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Latisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,578 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Latisha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Latisha from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 7,628 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Latisha 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 Latisha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Latishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 39 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Latisha, while Utah, Oregon, Delaware recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 422 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Latisha
The name Latisha is a modern variant of the name Letitia, which has its origins in the Latin word "laetitia," meaning "joy" or "gladness." This name was used in ancient Rome and can be traced back to the 1st century AD.
During the Middle Ages, the name Letitia gained popularity among Christians as it was associated with the concept of spiritual joy and happiness. It was particularly favored in France and other parts of Western Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Letitia can be found in the 12th-century poem "The Romance of the Rose" by Guillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meun. In this literary work, Letitia is personified as an allegorical figure representing joy and delight.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals named Letitia or its variants. One such individual was Letitia Elizabeth Landon (1802-1838), an English poet and novelist who was highly acclaimed during her lifetime for her works of poetry and fiction.
Another prominent figure was Letitia Tyler (1790-1842), the first wife of the 10th President of the United States, John Tyler. She served as First Lady from 1841 until her death the following year.
In the 19th century, the name Letitia underwent a transformation, with various spellings emerging, such as Latisha and Leticia. These variants were particularly popular among African American communities in the United States.
One notable woman with the name Latisha was Latisha Crane (1966-1995), an American model and actress who appeared in several music videos and films in the 1990s. Tragically, her life was cut short at the age of 29.
Another individual worth mentioning is Latisha Nedd (born 1975), an American singer and songwriter known for her work in gospel music. She has released several successful albums and has been nominated for multiple Stellar Awards.
The name Latisha has also been associated with historical figures from the African diaspora, such as Latisha Smith (born 1971), a former member of the Black Panther Party and activist for civil rights and social justice.
In the realm of literature, the name Latisha appears in works by contemporary authors, including Toni Morrison's novel "Paradise," where one of the characters is named Latisha.
While the name Latisha originated as a variant of the Latin name Letitia, it has taken on its own unique identity and cultural significance, particularly within the African American community, reflecting the rich diversity of names and their evolving meanings over time.
People
Latisha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Latisha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Latisha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Latisha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,150 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Latisha 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 19,986 US residents.
Is Latisha a common name?
We classify Latisha as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 18,444 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Latisha most popular?
The single biggest year for Latisha was 1979, when 1,180 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Latisha is about 43 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Latisha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 14,575 people with the name Latisha, or 4.83 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,930 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 Latisha 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 Latisha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Latisha appears almost entirely female. Of the 14,578 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 Latisha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Latisha is Black at 70.0%. The next largest groups are White (17.4%) and Hispanic (5.5%). 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 Latisha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Latisha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.0% (10,207 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 Latisha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Latisha a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Latisha 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 Latisha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Latisha 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 Latisha 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 Latisha?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.