Menna
An Egyptian name meaning "she who is established" or "established".
Name Census estimates that about 212 living Americans carry the first name Menna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Menna today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Menna births was 2022 (21 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Menna. 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 Menna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
212
~ 1 in 1,616,766 Americans
Peak year
2022
21 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#16,818
Tracked since 1997
Census
Menna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 330 people with the first name Menna, which placed it at #27,622 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
#27,622
National first-name rank
People counted
330
330 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Menna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menna is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Menna 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 Menna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.5% · 180
- Black or African American35.8% · 118
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino3.3% · 11
- Two or more races2.7% · 9
Popularity
Menna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Menna from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 91 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Menna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Menna 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 Menna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mennas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Menna
The given name Menna has its origins in ancient Egypt, where it was a popular name for both men and women. The name is derived from the ancient Egyptian word "mn," which means "to endure" or "to be established." This suggests that the name was intended to convey a sense of permanence, stability, and endurance.
In ancient Egyptian mythology, Menna was also the name of a minor deity associated with fertility and childbirth. This association likely contributed to the popularity of the name among the ancient Egyptians, who placed great importance on fertility and the continuation of family lineages.
The earliest known records of the name Menna date back to the Old Kingdom of ancient Egypt, circa 2686–2181 BCE. One of the most notable individuals bearing this name from that era was Menna, a high-ranking official and nobleman who lived during the 18th Dynasty (circa 1550–1295 BCE). His tomb, discovered in Thebes, features exquisite wall paintings that provide valuable insights into ancient Egyptian art and culture.
Another famous Menna from ancient Egypt was a scribe who lived during the 20th Dynasty (circa 1186–1069 BCE). He is known for his contribution to the Papyrus Menna, a collection of ancient Egyptian texts that include hymns, prayers, and magical incantations.
In later centuries, the name Menna continued to be used, albeit less frequently. One notable figure was Menna Ibn Batrik (circa 870–940 CE), an Egyptian Christian physician and scholar who served as the personal physician to several Abbasid caliphs in Baghdad.
During the Middle Ages, the name Menna gained popularity among the Coptic Christians of Egypt. One prominent bearer of the name was Menna, a Coptic monk and saint who lived in the 4th century CE. He is renowned for his asceticism and is venerated as a patron saint of travelers and those seeking protection from snakes and scorpions.
Throughout history, the name Menna has been borne by various individuals from different cultures and backgrounds. While its use may have waned in some regions, it remains a testament to the rich cultural heritage of ancient Egypt and the enduring legacy of its language and traditions.
People
Menna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Menna 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
Menna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Menna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 212 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Menna 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 1,616,766 US residents.
Is Menna a common name?
We classify Menna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 214 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Menna most popular?
The single biggest year for Menna was 2022, when 21 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Menna is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Menna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 330 people with the name Menna, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,622 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 Menna 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 Menna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Menna leans strongly female. 322 people counted with this name were female (96.4%), compared with 12 male bearers (3.6%). 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 Menna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Menna is White at 54.5%. The next largest groups are Black (35.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Menna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Menna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.5% (180 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 Menna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Menna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Menna 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 Menna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Menna 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 Menna 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 are named Menna?
Find out how many Americans are named Menna on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.