Serafina
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "fiery" or "burning one".
Name Census estimates that about 2,943 living Americans carry the first name Serafina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Serafina today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Serafina births was 2024 (190 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Serafina. 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 Serafina with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Serafina is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.9K
~ 1 in 116,464 Americans
Peak year
2024
190 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,231
Tracked since 1901
Census
Serafina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,073 people with the first name Serafina, which placed it at #5,544 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
#5,544
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,073 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Serafina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Serafina is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.4%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Serafina 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 Serafina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.7% · 1,681
- Hispanic or Latino33.4% · 1,025
- Two or more races6.4% · 196
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 115
- Black or African American1.5% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 11
Popularity
Serafina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Serafina from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,173 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Serafina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Serafina 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 Serafina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Serafinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Serafina, while Utah, Colorado, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 102 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Serafina
The name Serafina has its origins in the Latin language and is derived from the word "seraphim," which refers to an angelic being described in the Bible as having six wings and residing in the highest order of the celestial hierarchy. This name has been in use since ancient times, reflecting the deep religious and cultural significance it holds.
The earliest recorded use of the name Serafina dates back to the 4th century, when it was mentioned in various religious texts and historical records. During the Middle Ages, the name gained popularity across Europe, particularly in Italy, where it was often associated with the Catholic Church and its reverence for angels and heavenly beings.
One of the earliest notable figures to bear the name Serafina was Saint Serafina, a 5th-century Italian virgin martyr who was venerated for her unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution. Her story inspired many devotees and contributed to the widespread adoption of the name among devout Christian families.
In the 12th century, Serafina de' Bambini, an Italian noblewoman and mystic, gained recognition for her pious lifestyle and philanthropic works. She established a religious order dedicated to caring for orphaned and abandoned children, leaving a lasting legacy that reinforced the name's association with compassion and charity.
During the Renaissance, the name Serafina gained prominence in the arts and literature. One notable figure was Serafina Zambrini (1532-1619), an Italian poet and writer who was celebrated for her lyrical compositions and her patronage of the arts. Her contemporaries praised her intellect and creative talents, further elevating the name's cultural significance.
In the 19th century, Serafina Tognoli (1838-1905), an Italian nun and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, became renowned for her dedication to education and her efforts to establish schools and orphanages across Italy. Her legacy as an influential educator and advocate for the underprivileged solidified the name's association with compassion and service.
Throughout history, the name Serafina has been borne by numerous individuals from various walks of life, each contributing to its rich cultural tapestry and reinforcing its enduring symbolic meaning of purity, grace, and celestial inspiration.
People
Serafina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Serafina 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
Serafina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Serafina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,943 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Serafina 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 116,464 US residents.
Is Serafina a common name?
We classify Serafina as "Rare". It ranks above 95.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,463 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Serafina most popular?
The single biggest year for Serafina was 2024, when 190 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Serafina is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Serafina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,073 people with the name Serafina, or 1.02 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,544 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 Serafina 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 Serafina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Serafina appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,073 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 Serafina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Serafina is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.4%) and Two or More Races (6.4%). 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 Serafina most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Serafina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (1,681 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 Serafina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Serafina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Serafina 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 Serafina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Serafina 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 Serafina 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 Serafina?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Serafina at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.