Alexia
One who protects or defends mankind, a Greek name meaning "defender".
Name Census estimates that about 44,879 living Americans carry the first name Alexia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alexia today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alexia births was 2002 (2,697 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alexia. 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 Alexia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
45K
~ 1 in 7,637 Americans
Peak year
2002
2,697 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2006 SSA rank
#883
Tracked since 1916
Census
Alexia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 39,581 people with the first name Alexia, which placed it at #1,057 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
#1,057
National first-name rank
People counted
40K
39,581 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
13.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
41.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alexia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alexia is Hispanic at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Alexia 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 Alexia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino41.5% · 16,444
- White38.0% · 15,051
- Black or African American12.9% · 5,112
- Two or more races5.1% · 2,021
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 652
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 301
Gender
Gender distribution for Alexia
Out of the 45,989 babies given the name Alexia since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Alexia as a male name
- Ranked #10,722 in 2006
- 6 male births in 2006
- Peak: 2004 (9 births)
Alexia as a female name
- Ranked #883 in 2024
- 305 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (2,691 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alexia appears almost entirely female. Of the 39,584 people counted with this name, 99.6% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Alexia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alexia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 21,268 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alexia 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 Alexia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alexias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Alexia, while Vermont, North Dakota, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 850 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alexia
The name Alexia has its roots in the Greek language, derived from the word "alexo," which means "to defend" or "to help." It is a feminine form of the name Alexander, which was a popular name among ancient Greek rulers and warriors.
The name Alexia first gained prominence in ancient Greece, where it was associated with strength, courage, and protection. It was often given to girls born into noble families, as it symbolized the qualities that were highly valued in that society.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Alexia can be found in the works of ancient Greek authors, such as Plutarch and Pausanias, who mentioned women bearing this name in their writings. However, there are no significant historical figures from that era solely known by the name Alexia.
During the Byzantine era, the name Alexia became more widespread, particularly among the Eastern Orthodox Christian community. It was sometimes associated with the idea of defending the faith, as the name's meaning resonated with the religious values of the time.
In the Middle Ages, the name Alexia was relatively uncommon in Western Europe, but it saw a resurgence in popularity during the Renaissance period. One notable figure from this time was Alexia Falconieri (1200-1310), an Italian nun and founder of the Order of the Servants of Mary, who is now venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church.
As the use of the name spread across Europe, it gained various spelling variations, such as Alexia, Alexya, and Alecia. In the 19th century, the name became more popular in English-speaking countries, and several notable women bore the name:
1. Alexia Procter (1825-1876), an English novelist and essayist.
2. Alexia von Arnim (1828-1876), a German writer and novelist.
3. Alexia Kharitonov (1892-1975), a Russian-born American sculptor.
4. Alexia Besset (1893-1965), a French actress and singer.
5. Alexia Echevarría (born 1967), an American television personality and businesswoman.
While the name Alexia has maintained a consistent presence throughout history, its popularity has ebbed and flowed in different regions and time periods, reflecting the cultural and linguistic influences that have shaped its evolution.
People
Alexia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alexia 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
Alexia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alexia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 44,879 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alexia 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 7,637 US residents.
Is Alexia a common name?
We classify Alexia as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 45,989 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alexia most popular?
The single biggest year for Alexia was 2002, when 2,697 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alexia is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alexia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 39,581 people with the name Alexia, or 13.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,057 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 Alexia 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 Alexia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alexia appears almost entirely female. Of the 39,584 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 Alexia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alexia is Hispanic at 41.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.0%) and Black (12.9%). 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 Alexia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Alexia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 41.5% (16,444 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 Alexia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alexia a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Alexia 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 Alexia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alexia 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 Alexia 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 common is the name Alexia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.