Alba
Latin name meaning "dawn" or "whiteness," referring to the first light of day.
Name Census estimates that about 5,562 living Americans carry the first name Alba. It is a predominantly female name (98.5% of registrations). The average person named Alba today is around 27 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alba births was 2024 (204 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alba. 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 Alba with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Alba is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 108 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 61,624 Americans
Peak year
2024
204 babies that year
Average age
27
years old
1981 SSA rank
#1,171
Tracked since 1880
Census
Alba in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 21,797 people with the first name Alba, which placed it at #1,518 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
#1,518
National first-name rank
People counted
22K
21,797 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
7.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
91.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alba
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alba is Hispanic at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Alba 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 Alba at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino91.1% · 19,850
- White7.7% · 1,686
- Black or African American0.5% · 103
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 74
- Two or more races0.3% · 69
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Alba
Alba leans heavily female at 98.5% of total registrations, but 108 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Alba as a male name
- Ranked #6,287 in 1981
- 5 male births in 1981
- Peak: 1913 (9 births)
Alba as a female name
- Ranked #1,171 in 2024
- 204 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (204 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alba appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,789 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Alba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alba from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,390 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Alba remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alba 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 Alba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Albas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 24 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Alba, while Minnesota, Nevada, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 178 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alba
The name Alba has its roots in Latin, deriving from the word "albus," which means "white" or "bright." This name traces its origins back to ancient Rome, where it was initially used to describe the city's famous white buildings and monuments.
Alba was a relatively common name among Roman families, particularly those of noble or patrician descent. It was often given to children with fair complexions or light-colored hair, symbolizing purity and radiance.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Alba can be found in Roman mythology. According to legend, Alba was the name of a princess who founded the city of Alba Longa, which later became a significant settlement in ancient Italy.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alba gained popularity across various European regions, particularly in Italy, Spain, and France. It was often associated with religious symbolism, as the color white was seen as a representation of purity and virtue in Christianity.
Several notable historical figures bore the name Alba. One of the most prominent was Alba de Cespedes, a Spanish painter and writer who lived during the 16th century. Another notable figure was Alba Benevides, a Portuguese noblewoman and influential figure during the 14th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Alba was embraced by various artists and intellectuals. One notable bearer was Alba de' Sommi, an Italian Renaissance playwright and scholar from the 16th century.
In the 19th century, the name gained popularity in Latin American countries, particularly in Argentina and Chile. One famous bearer of the name was Alba de Toscano, an Argentine poet and writer born in 1854.
Another notable figure was Alba Amicis, an Italian educator and writer who lived from 1837 to 1908. She was known for her advocacy for women's education and her contributions to children's literature.
As the name Alba has traveled through different cultures and eras, it has retained its association with purity, brightness, and radiance, making it a timeless and enduring choice for parents seeking a name with a rich historical and linguistic heritage.
People
Alba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alba 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
Alba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,562 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alba 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 61,624 US residents.
Is Alba a common name?
We classify Alba as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,400 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alba most popular?
The single biggest year for Alba was 2024, when 204 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alba is about 27 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alba in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 21,797 people with the name Alba, or 7.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,518 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 Alba 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 Alba?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alba appears almost entirely female. Of the 21,789 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Alba?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alba is Hispanic at 91.1%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Alba most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Alba in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.1% (19,850 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 Alba in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alba a female name?
Yes, 98.5% of people registered as Alba 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 Alba still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alba 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 Alba 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 Alba?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.