Minta
Form of the French feminine name Madeleine, meaning "woman from Magdala".
Name Census estimates that about 323 living Americans carry the first name Minta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Minta today is around 63 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Minta births was 1921 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Minta. 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.
People living today
323
~ 1 in 1,061,159 Americans
Peak year
1921
28 babies that year
Average age
63
years old
1993 SSA rank
#11,361
Tracked since 1880
Census
Minta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 488 people with the first name Minta, which placed it at #20,967 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
#20,967
National first-name rank
People counted
488
488 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Minta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Minta is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Minta 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 Minta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.9% · 336
- Black or African American11.9% · 58
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 47
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.7% · 23
- Two or more races3.7% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
Popularity
Minta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Minta from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 178 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Minta 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 Minta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mintas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Minta, while West Virginia, Texas, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 12 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Minta
The name Minta is a feminine given name with origins tracing back to ancient Sanskrit. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "mitra," which means "friend" or "companion." The name gained popularity in regions where Sanskrit had a linguistic and cultural influence, particularly in parts of the Indian subcontinent.
Minta was a name used in ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads. It was often associated with the concept of friendship, loyalty, and camaraderie. The name's roots can be found in the Sanskrit language, which dates back to around 1500 BCE, and has had a profound impact on the linguistic landscape of the region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Minta can be traced back to the 5th century BCE. Minta was the name of a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian who contributed significantly to the study and preservation of the Sanskrit language. Her works, although not fully preserved, were highly regarded in her time and influenced subsequent generations of scholars.
In the medieval period, the name Minta was borne by several notable figures. Minta Devi, a 13th-century queen of the Chahamana dynasty in present-day Rajasthan, India, was known for her patronage of the arts and her commitment to the welfare of her subjects. Another notable figure was Minta Bai, a 16th-century Rajput warrior princess who fought bravely against the Mughal Empire.
In the 19th century, Minta Kaur was a prominent Sikh woman who played a significant role in the struggle for independence from British rule in India. She was a vocal advocate for women's rights and education, and her efforts inspired many others to join the cause.
Minta Thake, born in 1897, was a pioneering Indian social worker and educator. She dedicated her life to improving the lives of underprivileged children and establishing educational institutions for girls in rural areas. Her work paved the way for greater access to education for women in India.
While the name Minta may have originated in the Sanskrit language, it has transcended linguistic and cultural boundaries, becoming a name recognized and used in various parts of the world. Its deep-rooted connection to the concepts of friendship and companionship has endured throughout its rich history.
People
Minta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Minta 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
Minta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Minta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 323 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Minta 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 1,061,159 US residents.
Is Minta a common name?
We classify Minta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,283 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Minta most popular?
The single biggest year for Minta was 1921, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Minta is about 63 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Minta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 488 people with the name Minta, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,967 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 Minta 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 Minta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Minta leans strongly female. 480 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 6 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Minta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Minta is White at 68.9%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Minta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Minta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.9% (336 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 Minta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Minta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Minta 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 Minta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Minta 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 Minta 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 called Minta?
You can see how many Americans are named Minta on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.