Apolonia
Of Greek origin, a feminine name relating to the god Apollo.
Name Census estimates that about 553 living Americans carry the first name Apolonia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Apolonia today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Apolonia births was 1990 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Apolonia. 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 Apolonia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
553
~ 1 in 619,809 Americans
Peak year
1990
25 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,942
Tracked since 1885
Census
Apolonia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,042 people with the first name Apolonia, which placed it at #7,468 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
#7,468
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,042 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
78.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Apolonia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Apolonia is Hispanic at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.3%) and White (8.3%). 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 Apolonia 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 Apolonia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino78.9% · 1,611
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.3% · 211
- White8.3% · 169
- Black or African American1.6% · 32
- Two or more races0.8% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
Popularity
Apolonia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Apolonia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 165 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Apolonia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Apolonia 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 Apolonia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Apolonias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Indiana recorded the most babies named Apolonia, while Indiana, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 103 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Apolonia
The name Apolonia has its origins in Greek culture and language, derived from the name Apollonia, which was associated with the Greek god Apollo. It is believed to have been in use as early as the 5th century BC in ancient Greece.
The name Apollonia was derived from the Greek words "Apollon" and "ia", with the former referring to the god Apollo, and the latter being a feminine suffix. Apollonia was a common name given to girls and women in ancient Greece, and it was often associated with beauty, grace, and artistic pursuits, qualities that were revered in Greek culture.
The name Apolonia, with its slightly modified spelling, emerged later, likely during the Roman era, as Greek names and culture spread throughout the Mediterranean region. It has been used across various cultures and societies throughout history, often with variations in spelling and pronunciation.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Apolonia can be found in the New Testament of the Bible, where it is mentioned as the name of a Christian woman from Philippi. In the book of Acts, chapter 16, verse 16, it is written: "It happened that as we were going to the place of prayer, a slave girl having a spirit of divination met us, who was bringing her masters much profit by fortune-telling."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Apolonia, including:
1. Apolonia of Alexandria (3rd century AD), a Christian martyr and saint who was tortured and executed for her faith during the Roman persecution of Christians.
2. Apolonia Radwill (1625-1687), a Polish noblewoman and renowned philanthropist, known for her charitable works and support of education.
3. Apolonia Lizarzaburu (1827-1903), a Peruvian nun and founder of the Congregation of the Servants of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, who was beatified by the Catholic Church in 1992.
4. Apolonia Pardo Bazán (1851-1921), a Spanish novelist, journalist, and literary critic, considered one of the leading figures of the Spanish Realist movement.
5. Apolonia Velasco (1935-2017), a Mexican artist known for her vibrant and colorful paintings depicting everyday life and traditions in Mexico.
While the name Apolonia has its roots in ancient Greece and has been used across various cultures and time periods, it has maintained a connection to its origins, often evoking associations with beauty, grace, and artistic expression.
People
Apolonia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Apolonia 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
Apolonia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Apolonia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 553 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Apolonia 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 619,809 US residents.
Is Apolonia a common name?
We classify Apolonia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,069 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Apolonia most popular?
The single biggest year for Apolonia was 1990, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Apolonia is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Apolonia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,042 people with the name Apolonia, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,468 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 Apolonia 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 Apolonia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Apolonia leans strongly female. 2,027 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 26 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Apolonia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Apolonia is Hispanic at 78.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (10.3%) and White (8.3%). 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 Apolonia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Apolonia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.9% (1,611 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 Apolonia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Apolonia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Apolonia 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 Apolonia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Apolonia 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 Apolonia 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 Apolonia?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Apolonia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.