Martha
A feminine name of Aramaic origin meaning "lady" or "mistress of the house".
Name Census estimates that about 200,283 living Americans carry the first name Martha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Martha today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Martha births was 1947 (10,674 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Martha. 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 Martha with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Martha is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 1,991 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Martha is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Marthas were born before 1971.
- • Compared to the 1940s, recent registration numbers for Martha have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
200K
~ 1 in 1,711 Americans
Peak year
1947
10,674 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1995 SSA rank
#667
Tracked since 1880
Census
Martha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 368,247 people with the first name Martha, which placed it at #133 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
#133
National first-name rank
People counted
368K
368,247 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
121.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Martha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Martha is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.9%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Martha 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 Martha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.7% · 186,690
- Hispanic or Latino40.9% · 150,588
- Black or African American6.4% · 23,433
- Two or more races1.1% · 3,945
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 1,915
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1,676
Gender
Gender distribution for Martha
Out of the 553,316 babies given the name Martha since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Martha as a male name
- Ranked #5,386 in 1995
- 11 male births in 1995
- Peak: 1939 (47 births)
Martha as a female name
- Ranked #667 in 2024
- 431 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1947 (10,652 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Martha appears almost entirely female. Of the 368,239 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Martha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Martha from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 95,681 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1940s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Martha 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 Martha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 47 | 13,911 | 13,958 |
| 1890s | 59 | 19,415 | 19,474 |
| 1900s | 66 | 21,750 | 21,816 |
| 1910s | 162 | 59,509 | 59,671 |
| 1920s | 314 | 86,788 | 87,102 |
| 1930s | 377 | 77,697 | 78,074 |
| 1940s | 295 | 95,386 | 95,681 |
| 1950s | 205 | 83,189 | 83,394 |
| 1960s | 149 | 41,039 | 41,188 |
| 1970s | 110 | 17,925 | 18,035 |
| 1980s | 148 | 13,038 | 13,186 |
| 1990s | 59 | 9,750 | 9,809 |
| 2000s | 0 | 6,169 | 6,169 |
| 2010s | 0 | 3,739 | 3,739 |
| 2020s | 0 | 2,020 | 2,020 |
Geography
Where Marthas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Texas, California, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Martha, while Nevada, Wyoming, Hawaii recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9,694 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Martha
The name Martha is derived from the Aramaic word "Marta", which means "the lady" or "the mistress". It is a female given name that has been in use since ancient times.
The earliest recorded use of the name Martha can be traced back to the New Testament of the Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of one of the sisters of Lazarus of Bethany. In the Gospel of John, Martha is described as a hardworking and practical woman who showed great faith in Jesus.
In the early Christian era, the name Martha became popular among the followers of the new religion, particularly in the Mediterranean region and the Middle East. As Christianity spread, the name also gained popularity in other parts of Europe and the world.
One of the earliest recorded instances of a woman bearing the name Martha is Saint Martha of Bethany, who is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. She is traditionally depicted as the sister of Mary and Lazarus and is regarded as a symbol of hospitality and service.
Another notable figure in history named Martha was Martha Washington, the wife of George Washington, the first President of the United States. She was born in 1731 and played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War, serving as a hostess and confidante to her husband.
In literature, one of the most famous characters named Martha is Martha Raddatz from the novel "The Homecoming" by Thomas Wolfe. The character is a strong-willed and independent woman who defies societal norms and expectations.
Other notable individuals named Martha include Martha Graham (1894-1991), an American modern dance pioneer, Martha Argerich (born 1941), an Argentine classical concert pianist, and Martha Stewart (born 1941), an American businesswoman, writer, and television personality.
The name Martha has remained popular throughout history and continues to be used in various cultures and regions around the world, carrying with it a sense of strength, resilience, and practicality.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Martha
People
Martha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Martha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Martha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Martha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 200,283 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Martha 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 1,711 US residents.
Is Martha a common name?
We classify Martha as "Common". It ranks above 99.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 553,316 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Martha most popular?
The single biggest year for Martha was 1947, when 10,674 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Martha is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Martha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 368,247 people with the name Martha, or 121.92 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #133 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 Martha 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 Martha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Martha appears almost entirely female. Of the 368,239 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 Martha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Martha is White at 50.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (40.9%) and Black (6.4%). 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 Martha most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Martha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (186,690 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 Martha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Martha a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Martha 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 Martha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Martha 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 Martha 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 Martha?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Martha at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.