Myia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "fly".
Name Census estimates that about 2,203 living Americans carry the first name Myia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Myia today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Myia births was 1998 (123 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Myia. 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 Myia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.2K
~ 1 in 155,585 Americans
Peak year
1998
123 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,999
Tracked since 1970
Census
Myia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,987 people with the first name Myia, which placed it at #7,616 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
#7,616
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,987 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
55.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Myia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myia is Black at 55.4%. The next largest groups are White (27.0%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Myia 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 Myia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American55.4% · 1,101
- White27.0% · 536
- Hispanic or Latino7.8% · 155
- Two or more races7.8% · 154
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 11
Popularity
Myia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Myia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 778 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Myia 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 Myia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Myias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. Texas, Michigan, Georgia recorded the most babies named Myia, while Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 26 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Myia
The given name Myia has its origins in Ancient Greek, deriving from the word "myia" which means "fly" or "gnat". It likely emerged as a name in the classical period of ancient Greece, between the 5th and 4th centuries BC. The name may have been inspired by the insect's nimble and rapid movements, representing qualities like speed, agility, and swiftness.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Myia can be found in Aristotle's work "Historia Animalium" (History of Animals), written in the 4th century BC. In this text, Aristotle discusses the behavior and characteristics of various insects, including the fly (myia). This suggests that the name was in use during his time and may have been influenced by the scientific interest in the natural world.
Throughout ancient Greek literature and historical records, several notable individuals bore the name Myia. One such figure was Myia of Salamis, a renowned lyric poet who lived in the 6th century BC. Her works, though only fragmentary, were celebrated for their beauty and poetic merit. Another historical figure named Myia was a priestess of the goddess Artemis, mentioned in inscriptions from the island of Delos dating back to the 3rd century BC.
In the early Christian era, the name Myia gained some prominence. Saint Myia was a 4th-century martyr who was tortured and executed for her faith during the Roman persecutions. Her story is recounted in various hagiographies, and her feast day is celebrated on March 12th in some Eastern Orthodox Christian traditions.
During the Byzantine period, the name Myia was also used, although less frequently. One notable bearer was Myia Palaiologina, a 13th-century Byzantine princess and daughter of the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos. She was married to the King of Sicily, and her name is recorded in various historical documents and chronicles of the time.
In the Renaissance era, the name Myia resurfaced in literary works and plays. One notable example is Myia, a character in the 16th-century Italian play "La Calandra" by Cardinal Bibbiena. This comedic play was widely popular and may have contributed to the name's brief revival during that period.
While the name Myia has ancient roots and a rich history, it has largely fallen out of common usage in modern times. However, its connection to the natural world and its literary and historical references make it a unique and intriguing name with a fascinating past.
People
Myia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Myia 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
Myia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Myia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,203 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Myia 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 155,585 US residents.
Is Myia a common name?
We classify Myia as "Rare". It ranks above 94.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,266 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Myia most popular?
The single biggest year for Myia was 1998, when 123 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Myia is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Myia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,987 people with the name Myia, or 0.66 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,616 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 Myia 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 Myia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Myia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,991 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Myia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myia is Black at 55.4%. The next largest groups are White (27.0%) and Hispanic (7.8%). 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 Myia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Myia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.4% (1,101 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 Myia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Myia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Myia 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 Myia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Myia 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 Myia 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 Myia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.