Paloma
A Spanish name meaning "dove" or "pigeon".
Name Census estimates that about 10,211 living Americans carry the first name Paloma. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Paloma today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Paloma births was 2009 (411 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Paloma. 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 Paloma with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
10K
~ 1 in 33,567 Americans
Peak year
2009
411 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#971
Tracked since 1921
Census
Paloma in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,304 people with the first name Paloma, which placed it at #2,414 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
#2,414
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,304 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
83.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Paloma
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paloma is Hispanic at 83.9%. The next largest groups are White (11.4%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Paloma 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 Paloma at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino83.9% · 8,641
- White11.4% · 1,175
- Two or more races1.9% · 199
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 139
- Black or African American1.2% · 127
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 23
Popularity
Paloma: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Paloma from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 3,230 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Paloma remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Paloma 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 Paloma during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Palomas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Paloma, while South Carolina, Idaho, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 266 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Paloma
Paloma is a Spanish name that originated from the Latin word "palumba," which means "dove." It has been a popular name in Spanish-speaking countries for centuries, particularly in Spain and Latin America.
The name Paloma has been associated with peace, gentleness, and purity, as doves are often seen as symbols of these qualities. It has also been used as a metaphor for beauty and grace, which may have contributed to its enduring popularity as a given name.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Paloma can be found in the 12th century Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," where it was used as a character's name. This suggests that the name was already in use in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Paloma. One of the most famous was Paloma Picasso, the daughter of the renowned Spanish artist Pablo Picasso. She was a successful jewelry designer and businesswoman, born in 1949 and still active today.
Another notable Paloma was Paloma O'Shea Arroyo, a Spanish aristocrat and socialite who was a close friend of the Duke and Duchess of Windsor. She was born in 1922 and passed away in 1997.
In the realm of arts and entertainment, Paloma Herrera is a prominent Argentine ballet dancer who was a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre from 1991 to 2015. She was born in 1975 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest ballet dancers of her generation.
Paloma Faith is a contemporary British singer-songwriter known for her unique style and powerful vocals. She was born in 1985 and has released several successful albums since her debut in 2009.
Lastly, Paloma Pedrero is a Spanish playwright and screenwriter who has been active since the 1980s. She was born in 1957 and is known for her explorations of contemporary social issues in her works.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Paloma, illustrating its enduring popularity and cultural significance across various fields and regions.
People
Paloma + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Paloma as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Paloma: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Paloma?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,211 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Paloma 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 33,567 US residents.
Is Paloma a common name?
We classify Paloma as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Paloma most popular?
The single biggest year for Paloma was 2009, when 411 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Paloma is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Paloma in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,304 people with the name Paloma, or 3.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,414 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 Paloma 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 Paloma?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Paloma appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,303 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Paloma?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Paloma is Hispanic at 83.9%. The next largest groups are White (11.4%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Paloma most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Paloma in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.9% (8,641 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 Paloma in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Paloma a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Paloma 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 Paloma still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Paloma 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 Paloma 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 common is the name Paloma?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.