Amanda
A feminine name derived from the Latin "amanda", meaning "worthy of love".
Name Census estimates that about 727,877 living Americans carry the first name Amanda. It sits at #496 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Amanda today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amanda births was 1987 (41,909 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amanda. 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 Amanda with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Amanda is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 2,136 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Compared to the 1980s, recent registration numbers for Amanda have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
728K
~ 1 in 471 Americans
Peak year
1987
41,909 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2011 SSA rank
#496
Tracked since 1880
Census
Amanda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 698,992 people with the first name Amanda, which placed it at #50 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
#50
National first-name rank
People counted
699K
698,992 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
231.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Amanda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amanda is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Amanda 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 Amanda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.7% · 557,399
- Hispanic or Latino11.3% · 79,131
- Two or more races3.5% · 24,580
- Black or African American3.0% · 21,099
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 12,357
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4,426
Gender
Gender distribution for Amanda
Out of the 792,151 babies given the name Amanda since 1880, 99.7% 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.
Amanda as a male name
- Ranked #12,378 in 2011
- 5 male births in 2011
- Peak: 1985 (143 births)
Amanda as a female name
- Ranked #496 in 2024
- 617 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1987 (41,786 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 698,989 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Amanda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amanda from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 370,885 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
Amanda 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 Amanda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Amandas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Amanda, while Hawaii, Wyoming, District of Columbia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 15,260 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Amanda
The name Amanda has its origins in ancient Latin, deriving from the verb "amandus," meaning "worthy of love" or "lovable." It is a feminine name with a gentle and affectionate connotation. The earliest recorded use of Amanda dates back to the late 17th century, although it did not gain widespread popularity until the 19th century.
In ancient Roman mythology, Amanda was sometimes used as an epithet for the goddess Venus, the personification of love and beauty. This association with the revered goddess further reinforced the name's positive and desirable associations. However, there are no known instances of Amanda being used as a personal name in ancient Roman texts or records.
One of the earliest notable individuals to bear the name Amanda was Amanda Bredwardine (c. 1380 - c. 1460), an English mystic and anchoress from the late medieval period. She lived a life of religious contemplation and is known for her writings on spiritual matters.
During the Renaissance period, Amanda Strozzi (1619 - 1677) was a renowned Italian singer and composer, celebrated for her virtuosic performances and contributions to the development of opera. She was one of the first professional female singers to achieve widespread acclaim in Europe.
In the realm of literature, Amanda Fitzalan is a character in Samuel Richardson's novel "Sir Charles Grandison" (1753), which played a significant role in popularizing the name. Her portrayal as a virtuous and intelligent young woman likely contributed to the name's appeal.
One of the most famous historical figures named Amanda was Amanda Clement (1888 - 1971), an American actress and playwright who achieved success on Broadway in the early 20th century. She was known for her roles in productions like "The Rivals" and "The School for Scandal."
Another notable Amanda was Amanda Labarca (1886 - 1975), a Chilean educator, feminist, and diplomat who played a pivotal role in advancing women's rights and educational opportunities in her country. She served as the first female ambassador of Chile to the United Nations.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who have borne the name Amanda, a name that has endured for centuries and continues to be popular today, carrying with it a sense of grace and warmth.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Amanda
People
Amanda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amanda 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
Amanda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amanda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 727,877 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amanda 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 471 US residents.
Is Amanda a common name?
We classify Amanda as "Very Common". It ranks above 100% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 792,151 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amanda most popular?
The single biggest year for Amanda was 1987, when 41,909 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amanda 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 Amanda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 698,992 people with the name Amanda, or 231.43 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #50 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 Amanda 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 Amanda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Amanda appears almost entirely female. Of the 698,989 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Amanda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Amanda is White at 79.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.3%) and Two or More Races (3.5%). 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 Amanda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Amanda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (557,399 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 Amanda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amanda a female name?
Yes, 99.7% of people registered as Amanda 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 Amanda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amanda 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 Amanda 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 called Amanda?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.