Myrtice
A feminine name derived from the Greek word "myrtia" meaning myrtle tree.
Name Census estimates that about 610 living Americans carry the first name Myrtice. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Myrtice today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Myrtice births was 1918 (152 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Myrtice. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Myrtice is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Myrtices were born before 1957.
People living today
610
~ 1 in 561,892 Americans
Peak year
1918
152 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1981 SSA rank
#11,533
Tracked since 1881
Census
Myrtice in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 842 people with the first name Myrtice, which placed it at #14,096 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
#14,096
National first-name rank
People counted
842
842 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Myrtice
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrtice is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Myrtice 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 Myrtice at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.0% · 488
- Black or African American37.4% · 315
- Two or more races3.0% · 25
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Popularity
Myrtice: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Myrtice from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,309 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
Myrtice 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 Myrtice during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Myrtices live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Georgia, Alabama, Florida recorded the most babies named Myrtice, while Louisiana, South Carolina, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 335 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Myrtice
The name Myrtice is derived from the Greek word "myrtis," which means "myrtle," a small evergreen shrub with fragrant leaves and berries. This name has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and culture, dating back to the 8th century BC.
The myrtle plant was sacred to the Greek goddess Aphrodite, the goddess of love, beauty, and fertility. It was believed that the myrtle plant symbolized love, beauty, and fertility, and was often used in wedding ceremonies and other rituals related to love and fertility.
The earliest known record of the name Myrtice dates back to the 4th century BC, when it was mentioned in ancient Greek texts as the name of a woman from the island of Lesbos. However, the name did not become widely popular until the Middle Ages, when it was adopted by Christians as a feminine name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Myrtice in history is Myrtice of Patras, a Christian saint and martyr who lived in the 3rd century AD. She was tortured and executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Decius.
Another notable figure with the name Myrtice was Myrtice of Chios, a Byzantine princess who lived in the 11th century AD. She was the daughter of the Byzantine Emperor Alexios I Komnenos and was known for her beauty and intelligence.
In the 16th century, Myrtice Elionor was a French noblewoman and courtier at the court of King Henry IV of France. She was known for her wit and intelligence and was a patron of the arts.
During the 18th century, Myrtice Constance was a French writer and philosopher who was part of the Enlightenment movement. She was known for her writings on education and women's rights.
In the 19th century, Myrtice Elizabeth was an American author and activist who wrote about women's rights and abolitionism. She was also involved in the Underground Railroad, helping slaves escape to freedom.
While the name Myrtice has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been used throughout history in various parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East, and North America. However, it has never been a widely popular name, and has remained relatively rare.
People
Myrtice + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Myrtice 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
Myrtice: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Myrtice?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 610 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Myrtice 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 561,892 US residents.
Is Myrtice a common name?
We classify Myrtice as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,342 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Myrtice most popular?
The single biggest year for Myrtice was 1918, when 152 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Myrtice is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Myrtice in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 842 people with the name Myrtice, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,096 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 Myrtice 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 Myrtice?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Myrtice appears almost entirely female. Of the 843 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 Myrtice?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrtice is White at 58.0%. The next largest groups are Black (37.4%) and Two or More Races (3.0%). 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 Myrtice most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Myrtice in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.0% (488 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 Myrtice in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Myrtice a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Myrtice 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 Myrtice still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Myrtice 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 Myrtice 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 the name Myrtice?
See how many Americans are named Myrtice on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.