Wynema
First-born woman or first-born daughter, derived from Cherokee language.
Name Census estimates that about 181 living Americans carry the first name Wynema. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Wynema today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Wynema births was 1934 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Wynema. 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 Wynema is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Wynemas were born before 1962.
People living today
181
~ 1 in 1,893,670 Americans
Peak year
1934
33 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1977 SSA rank
#11,308
Tracked since 1907
Census
Wynema in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 325 people with the first name Wynema, which placed it at #27,889 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
#27,889
National first-name rank
People counted
325
325 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Wynema
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynema is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (20.0%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Wynema 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 Wynema at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.3% · 196
- American Indian and Alaska Native20.0% · 65
- Black or African American9.5% · 31
- Two or more races8.0% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 3
Popularity
Wynema: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Wynema from the 1900s through to the 1970s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 206 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
Wynema 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 Wynema during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Wynemas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Wynema
The name Wynema is believed to have originated from the Muscogee Creek language, spoken by Native American tribes in the southeastern United States during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is derived from the Creek word "wynv," meaning "daughter," and "himmv," meaning "beloved."
Wynema was the title character in a novel by Muscogee Creek author Sophia Alice Callahan, published in 1891. The book, which focused on the challenges faced by Native American students at a boarding school, was one of the earliest works of fiction written by a Native American woman.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Wynema was in reference to Wynema Capitan, a Muscogee Creek woman who lived in the late 19th century. She was known for her efforts in preserving and promoting the Creek language and culture.
In the early 20th century, Wynema Jones (1888-1968) was a prominent educator and advocate for Native American rights. She worked tirelessly to improve educational opportunities for Native American children and was instrumental in establishing the first Native American boarding school in Oklahoma.
Another notable figure bearing the name Wynema was Wynema Mayfield (1906-1993), a Seminole artist and activist. She was renowned for her intricate patchwork designs, which incorporated traditional Seminole patterns and symbols. Mayfield's work was exhibited in museums across the United States and helped to raise awareness of Seminole culture.
Wynema Perdue (1931-2012) was a Muscogee Creek author and storyteller. She wrote several books aimed at preserving and sharing the oral traditions and folklore of her people, including "The Cherokee Messenger" and "The Raccoon and the Turtle."
While the name Wynema has its roots in the Native American cultures of the southeastern United States, it has since been adopted by families of various backgrounds, serving as a unique and meaningful name choice.
People
Wynema + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Wynema as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with W
Other first names starting with W with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Wynema: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Wynema?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 181 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Wynema 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 1,893,670 US residents.
Is Wynema a common name?
We classify Wynema as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 736 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Wynema most popular?
The single biggest year for Wynema was 1934, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Wynema is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Wynema in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 325 people with the name Wynema, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,889 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 Wynema 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 Wynema?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Wynema appears almost entirely female. Of the 319 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Wynema?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Wynema is White at 60.3%. The next largest groups are American Indian/Alaska Native (20.0%) and Black (9.5%). 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 Wynema most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Wynema in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.3% (196 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 Wynema in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Wynema a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Wynema 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 Wynema still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Wynema 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 Wynema 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 are named Wynema?
Find out how many people share the name Wynema on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.