Santa
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "holy" or "saint".
Name Census estimates that about 2,111 living Americans carry the first name Santa. It is a predominantly female name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Santa today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Santa births was 1915 (90 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Santa. 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 Santa with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.1K
~ 1 in 162,366 Americans
Peak year
1915
90 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1979 SSA rank
#5,400
Tracked since 1896
Census
Santa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,149 people with the first name Santa, which placed it at #2,442 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
#2,442
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
79.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Santa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Santa is Hispanic at 79.4%. The next largest groups are White (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Santa 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 Santa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino79.4% · 8,055
- White12.5% · 1,270
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 518
- Black or African American2.5% · 254
- Two or more races0.3% · 32
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 20
Gender
Gender distribution for Santa
Out of the 4,397 babies given the name Santa since 1880, 99.1% 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.
Santa as a male name
- Ranked #6,900 in 1979
- 5 male births in 1979
- Peak: 1926 (9 births)
Santa as a female name
- Ranked #5,400 in 2024
- 24 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1923 (89 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Santa leans strongly female. 9,668 people counted with this name were female (95.3%), compared with 481 male bearers (4.7%).
Popularity
Santa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Santa from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 744 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
Santa 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 Santa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Santas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Santa, while Connecticut, Louisiana, Massachusetts recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 279 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Santa
The name Santa is derived from the Latin word "sanctus," meaning holy or sacred. It is closely associated with the Christian religious figure Santa Claus, also known as Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint who was known for his generosity and gift-giving.
The name Santa has its origins in the ancient Greek name "Nikolaos," which means "victory of the people." This name was later adopted by the Romans and became "Nicolaus" in Latin. Over time, the shortened form "Santa" emerged as a popular way to refer to Saint Nicholas, particularly in Spanish and Italian-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of Santa Claus can be found in the 4th-century writings of St. Nicholas of Myra, a bishop known for his kindness and charitable deeds. The legend of Santa Claus as a gift-giver is believed to have originated from stories about St. Nicholas secretly delivering gifts to the poor and needy.
Throughout history, the name Santa has been associated with various historical figures and saints. One notable example is Santa Claus, the mythical figure who is said to bring gifts to children on Christmas Eve. The modern depiction of Santa Claus is largely based on the 19th-century poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement Clarke Moore.
Another famous person with the name Santa was Santa Fe de Bogotá (1539-1628), a Spanish Roman Catholic nun and mystic who founded the Convent of the Conception in Bogotá, Colombia. She is revered as a saint in the Catholic Church.
In the realm of literature, Santa Teresa de Jesús (1515-1582), better known as St. Teresa of Avila, was a prominent Spanish mystic, writer, and reformer of the Carmelite Order. Her spiritual writings, such as "The Interior Castle" and "The Way of Perfection," have had a lasting influence on Christian spirituality.
Santa Germana Cousin (1579-1601) was a French Roman Catholic mystic and visionary who is venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church. She is known for her visions and spiritual experiences, which she recorded in her writings.
Santa Giovanna Antida Thouret (1765-1826) was a French Roman Catholic nun and founder of the Sisters of Charity of Besançon. She is recognized as a saint by the Catholic Church for her dedication to education and social work.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who have borne the name Santa, reflecting its deep roots in Christian tradition and its association with holiness and sanctity.
People
Santa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Santa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Santa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Santa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Santa 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 162,366 US residents.
Is Santa a common name?
We classify Santa as "Rare". It ranks above 93.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,397 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Santa most popular?
The single biggest year for Santa was 1915, when 90 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Santa is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Santa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,149 people with the name Santa, or 3.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,442 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 Santa 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 Santa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Santa leans strongly female. 9,668 people counted with this name were female (95.3%), compared with 481 male bearers (4.7%). 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 Santa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Santa is Hispanic at 79.4%. The next largest groups are White (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Santa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Santa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.4% (8,055 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 Santa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Santa a female name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Santa 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 Santa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Santa 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 Santa 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 Santa as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Santa on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.