Agueda
A feminine given name with Spanish origin meaning "vigorous" or "good eye".
Name Census estimates that about 194 living Americans carry the first name Agueda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Agueda today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Agueda births was 1980 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Agueda. 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.
People living today
194
~ 1 in 1,766,775 Americans
Peak year
1980
11 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,271
Tracked since 1911
Census
Agueda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,045 people with the first name Agueda, which placed it at #7,460 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
#7,460
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,045 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Agueda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Agueda is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.2%). 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 Agueda 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 Agueda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.3% · 1,929
- White2.5% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 46
- Black or African American0.7% · 15
- Two or more races0.1% · 3
Popularity
Agueda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Agueda from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 56 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Agueda 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 Agueda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aguedas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Agueda
The given name Agueda is a Spanish feminine name derived from the Latin name Agatha, which in turn comes from the Greek word "agathos" meaning "good." It has its roots in ancient Greek culture, with the earliest recorded use dating back to the 3rd century AD.
The name Agueda gained popularity in the Iberian Peninsula during the Middle Ages, particularly in Spain and Portugal. It was often associated with St. Agatha, a Christian martyr from Sicily who lived in the 3rd century AD. Her unwavering faith and courage in the face of persecution made her a revered figure in the Catholic Church, and her name became a symbol of strength and virtue.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Agueda can be found in the "Codex Calixtinus," a 12th-century manuscript written in Spain, which contained a collection of sermons and hymns related to the Camino de Santiago pilgrimage route. The name also appeared in various medieval Spanish and Portuguese texts, including literary works and historical records.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Agueda. One of the most famous was Agueda Gallardo (1536-1628), a Spanish mystic and Carmelite nun known for her spiritual writings and contributions to the Carmelite reform movement. Another prominent figure was Agueda de Serpa (1597-1651), a Portuguese poet and writer who gained recognition for her literary works during the Spanish Golden Age.
In the 19th century, Agueda Arisó y Molina (1812-1869) was a Spanish nun and founder of the Congregation of the Sisters of the Doctrine Christian, dedicated to the education of girls. Agueda Roca (1841-1911) was a Spanish painter and one of the first women to be admitted to the Royal Academy of Fine Arts of San Fernando in Madrid.
Moving into the 20th century, Agueda Muñoz Ramirez (1924-2018) was a Mexican activist and labor leader who fought for the rights of indigenous communities and agricultural workers in her country.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Agueda throughout history, showcasing its rich cultural heritage and enduring legacy across various fields and regions.
People
Agueda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Agueda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Agueda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Agueda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 194 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Agueda 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 1,766,775 US residents.
Is Agueda a common name?
We classify Agueda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 245 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Agueda most popular?
The single biggest year for Agueda was 1980, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Agueda is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Agueda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,045 people with the name Agueda, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,460 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 Agueda 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 Agueda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Agueda appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,050 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Agueda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Agueda is Hispanic at 94.3%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.2%). 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 Agueda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Agueda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.3% (1,929 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 Agueda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Agueda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Agueda 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 Agueda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Agueda 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 Agueda 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 share the name Agueda?
Find out how many people have the name Agueda on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.