Amanita
A feminine name derived from the Latin amanita, meaning "mushroom".
Name Census estimates that about 31 living Americans carry the first name Amanita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Amanita today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Amanita births was 2022 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Amanita. 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 Amanita with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Amanita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
31
~ 1 in 11,056,592 Americans
Peak year
2022
8 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,539
Tracked since 1973
Popularity
Amanita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Amanita from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 27 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Amanita 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 Amanita 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 Amanita
The name Amanita has its origins in the Latin word "amanita," which refers to a genus of fungi that includes some of the most iconic and recognizable mushroom species, such as the fly agaric. This connection to the natural world and the realm of fungi gives the name a unique and intriguing quality.
Historically, the name Amanita can be traced back to ancient Roman times, when the Latin language was widely spoken and used in scholarly and scientific contexts. The Romans were known for their keen interest in natural history and their efforts to classify and name various plants and organisms.
While there are no known ancient texts or religious scriptures that directly reference the name Amanita, its Latin roots suggest a connection to the study and appreciation of nature that was prevalent in ancient Roman culture.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Amanita can be found in the works of the renowned Swedish naturalist and botanist Carl Linnaeus (1707-1778), who is credited with establishing the modern system of binomial nomenclature for classifying living organisms. In his seminal work, "Species Plantarum," published in 1753, Linnaeus formally introduced the genus name Amanita for a group of mushroom species.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Amanita, though its usage as a first name has been relatively rare. One example is Amanita Duga, a Russian artist and painter born in 1884, known for her vibrant and expressive artworks depicting nature and the outdoors.
Another notable figure is Amanita Virosa, a 19th-century Italian botanist and mycologist who made significant contributions to the study of fungi, particularly those within the Amanita genus. Her detailed observations and illustrations of various mushroom species were highly regarded in the scientific community of her time.
In the realm of literature, Amanita is the name of a character in the novel "The Mushroom Hunters" by Langdon Cook, published in 2013. This fictional character is portrayed as a passionate and knowledgeable mushroom forager, further solidifying the name's connection to the natural world.
Additionally, Amanita was the name given to a female orangutan born in 1957 at the San Diego Zoo. She gained international recognition for her remarkable aptitude in learning sign language and communicating with her caretakers, becoming an early ambassador for the study of primate intelligence and communication.
While the name Amanita is undoubtedly unique and distinctive, its usage as a first name remains relatively uncommon, perhaps due to its strong association with the world of fungi and the scientific realm. Nonetheless, its rich history and connections to nature, science, and the arts make it a captivating and intriguing choice for those seeking a name with depth and character.
People
Amanita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Amanita 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
Amanita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Amanita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 31 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Amanita 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 11,056,592 US residents.
Is Amanita a common name?
We classify Amanita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 47% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 32 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Amanita most popular?
The single biggest year for Amanita was 2022, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Amanita is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Amanita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Amanita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Amanita 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 Amanita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Amanita 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 Amanita 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many Americans are named Amanita?
Want to know how many Americans are named Amanita? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.