Mia
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "mine" or "envied".
Our analysis of Social Security Administration records puts the number of living Americans named Mia at approximately 294,916. That places it at #5 in the national ranking of first names. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mia today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mia births was 2015 (14,956 babies). In terms of living bearers, it sits close to Charlotte (293,609).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mia. 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 Mia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Mia is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 380 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Mia is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
295K
~ 1 in 1,162 Americans
Peak year
2015
14,956 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5
Tracked since 1933
Census
Mia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 219,775 people with the first name Mia, which placed it at #254 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
#254
National first-name rank
People counted
220K
219,775 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
72.8
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
44.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mia is Hispanic at 44.3%. The next largest groups are White (36.5%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Mia 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 Mia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino44.3% · 97,366
- White36.5% · 80,226
- Black or African American8.3% · 18,227
- Two or more races6.1% · 13,320
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.3% · 9,484
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1,152
Gender
Gender distribution for Mia
Out of the 299,424 babies given the name Mia since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Mia as a male name
- Ranked #5,356 in 2024
- 18 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (24 births)
Mia as a female name
- Ranked #5 in 2024
- 12,113 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (14,939 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mia appears almost entirely female. Of the 219,780 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Mia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mia from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 129,222 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Mia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mia 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 Mia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Mia, while Wyoming, Vermont, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5,828 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Mia
The name Mia has its roots in various languages and cultures, with a rich history spanning centuries. It is derived from the Latin word "mia," which means "mine" or "my." This name gained popularity during the Middle Ages in Italy, where it was often used as a pet form of the names Maria or Miriam.
In ancient times, the name Mia was mentioned in various texts and historical records. One notable reference is found in the works of the Roman poet Ovid, who lived during the reign of Emperor Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD). Ovid used the term "mia" in his poetry to express endearment and affection.
The earliest recorded example of the name Mia can be traced back to the 13th century in Italy. One of the first known individuals to bear this name was Mia Albizzi, a noblewoman from the influential Albizzi family of Florence, who lived during the late 13th and early 14th centuries.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have carried the name Mia. One such figure was Mia Lobo (1542-1622), a Portuguese painter and nun who lived during the Renaissance period. Her artistic works, particularly her religious paintings, were highly regarded in her time.
Another prominent individual named Mia was Mia Gypsy (1701-1766), an English fortune-teller and author who gained fame for her palm reading and astrological predictions. Her book, "The Fortune-Teller's Garland," published in 1741, became a bestseller and contributed to the popularization of fortune-telling in England.
In the 19th century, Mia Stanhope (1824-1891), an English writer and social reformer, made significant contributions to the field of education. She advocated for better educational opportunities for women and founded several schools in London.
Another notable figure was Mia Slavenska (1916-2002), a Croatian-American prima ballerina who gained international recognition for her performances with the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and other renowned dance companies.
Throughout the centuries, the name Mia has been carried by individuals from various walks of life, reflecting its enduring popularity and appeal across cultures and time periods.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Mia
People
Mia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mia 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
Mia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 294,916 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mia 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 1,162 US residents.
Is Mia a common name?
We classify Mia as "Common". It ranks above 99.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 299,424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mia most popular?
The single biggest year for Mia was 2015, when 14,956 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mia is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 219,775 people with the name Mia, or 72.77 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #254 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 Mia 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 Mia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mia appears almost entirely female. Of the 219,780 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Mia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mia is Hispanic at 44.3%. The next largest groups are White (36.5%) and Black (8.3%). 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 Mia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Mia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 44.3% (97,366 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 Mia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mia a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Mia 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 Mia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mia 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 Mia 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 have Mia as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Mia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.