Alphia
Of Greek origin, meaning "beginning" or "first-born".
Name Census estimates that about 41 living Americans carry the first name Alphia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Alphia today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alphia births was 1923 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alphia. 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 Alphia is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Alphias were born before 1961.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Alphia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
41
~ 1 in 8,359,862 Americans
Peak year
1923
16 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1968 SSA rank
#5,651
Tracked since 1899
Census
Alphia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 152 people with the first name Alphia, which placed it at #44,992 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
#44,992
National first-name rank
People counted
152
152 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alphia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alphia is Black at 49.3%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Alphia 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 Alphia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.3% · 75
- White37.5% · 57
- Two or more races5.9% · 9
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 2
Popularity
Alphia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alphia from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 80 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
Alphia 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 Alphia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alphia
The name Alphia is of Greek origin, derived from the word "alphios," which means "nourishing" or "prosperous." Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greece, where it was used as a feminine name, although its popularity was relatively limited.
In Greek mythology, Alphia was the name of a nymph associated with the island of Crete. She was said to be the daughter of the river god Inachos and the nymph Melisse. Alphia was known for her beauty and her nurturing nature, often depicted as a caretaker of the island's lush vegetation.
The earliest recorded use of the name Alphia dates back to the 5th century BC, when it appeared in various Greek inscriptions and historical records. However, it was not until the 1st century AD that the name gained some prominence, particularly among the Greek-speaking communities in the eastern Mediterranean regions.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Alphia was a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century AD. Her work focused on the study of geometry and the teachings of Plato. Unfortunately, few details about her life and contributions have survived.
In the 6th century AD, an Alphia was recorded as a Christian martyr who lived in Asia Minor (modern-day Turkey). She was reportedly persecuted and executed for her religious beliefs during the reign of the Roman Emperor Diocletian.
During the Byzantine era, a notable figure named Alphia emerged as a prominent scholar and writer in the 9th century AD. She was known for her literary works, which explored various philosophical and religious topics.
Another Alphia of historical significance was a noblewoman who lived in the 12th century AD in the Kingdom of Sicily, which was ruled by the Norman dynasty at the time. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for the construction of several churches and monasteries in the region.
In the 16th century, an Italian painter named Alphia Duramano gained recognition for her skilled portraiture and religious artworks. She was active in the city of Naples and was commissioned by several wealthy patrons during the Renaissance period.
While the name Alphia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these examples showcase its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods, often associated with intellectualism, artistic expression, and religious devotion.
People
Alphia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alphia 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
Alphia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alphia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 41 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alphia 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 8,359,862 US residents.
Is Alphia a common name?
We classify Alphia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 242 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alphia most popular?
The single biggest year for Alphia was 1923, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alphia is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alphia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 152 people with the name Alphia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,992 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 Alphia 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 Alphia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alphia leans strongly female. 147 people counted with this name were female (91.9%), compared with 13 male bearers (8.1%). 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 Alphia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alphia is Black at 49.3%. The next largest groups are White (37.5%) and Two or More Races (5.9%). 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 Alphia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Alphia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.3% (75 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 Alphia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alphia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alphia 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 Alphia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alphia 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 Alphia 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 Alphia?
Want to know how many people have the name Alphia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.