Almeda
A feminine name derived from the Spanish name Almeida, meaning "one who defends or protects".
Name Census estimates that about 648 living Americans carry the first name Almeda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Almeda today is around 73 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Almeda births was 1921 (135 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Almeda. 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 Almeda is about 73 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Almedas were born before 1963.
People living today
648
~ 1 in 528,942 Americans
Peak year
1921
135 babies that year
Average age
73
years old
1998 SSA rank
#12,518
Tracked since 1880
Census
Almeda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 965 people with the first name Almeda, which placed it at #12,766 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
#12,766
National first-name rank
People counted
965
965 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
60.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Almeda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Almeda is White at 60.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Almeda 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 Almeda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White60.8% · 587
- Black or African American28.5% · 275
- Hispanic or Latino3.6% · 35
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.5% · 34
- Two or more races2.6% · 25
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
Popularity
Almeda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Almeda from the 1880s through to the 1990s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,051 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
Almeda 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 Almeda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Almedas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Almeda, while Wisconsin, New Jersey, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 48 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Almeda
The name Almeda is believed to have its origins in the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "al-madina," which means "the city." The name was likely first used in the Middle East and North Africa during the early Islamic period, around the 7th to 10th centuries CE.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Almeda can be found in the writings of the 9th-century Arab scholar and traveler, Al-Muqaddasi. In his work "Ahsan al-Taqasim fi Ma'rifat al-Aqalim" (The Best Divisions for Knowledge of the Regions), he mentions a town called "Almeda" in present-day Iraq.
The name Almeda may have also been influenced by the Spanish name "Almedina," which shares a similar root and meaning. This name was likely brought to the Iberian Peninsula during the Moorish rule of the region, which lasted from the 8th to the 15th century.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Almeda was Almeda Khan, a 12th-century ruler of the Ghurid dynasty in present-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. She was known for her patronage of the arts and architecture, and her reign saw the construction of several notable buildings, including the minaret of Jam.
In the 13th century, there was a notable figure named Almeda al-Qaisi, who was a renowned poet and scholar from the city of Cordova in present-day Spain. Her poetry, which often celebrated the beauty of her homeland, was widely acclaimed during her lifetime.
Another historical figure with the name Almeda was Almeda Bint Zayed Al Nahyan, a 19th-century princess from the ruling family of Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates. She was known for her philanthropy and played a significant role in the development of the region's education and healthcare systems.
In the 20th century, one of the most notable bearers of the name Almeda was Almeda Riddle, an American singer and musician who was a pioneer of the blues genre. Born in 1898 in Virginia, she was influential in popularizing the blues sound in the early decades of the 20th century.
Finally, it is worth mentioning Almeda Allison, an American aviator who lived from 1911 to 1982. She was one of the first women to earn a commercial pilot's license in the United States and was a prominent figure in the early days of aviation.
People
Almeda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Almeda 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
Almeda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Almeda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 648 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Almeda 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 528,942 US residents.
Is Almeda a common name?
We classify Almeda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,402 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Almeda most popular?
The single biggest year for Almeda was 1921, when 135 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Almeda is about 73 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Almeda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 965 people with the name Almeda, or 0.32 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,766 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 Almeda 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 Almeda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Almeda appears almost entirely female. Of the 965 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Almeda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Almeda is White at 60.8%. The next largest groups are Black (28.5%) and Hispanic (3.6%). 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 Almeda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Almeda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.8% (587 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 Almeda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Almeda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Almeda 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 Almeda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Almeda 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 Almeda 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 Almeda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.