Apphia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "industrious" or "beloved".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Apphia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Apphia today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Apphia births was 2024 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Apphia. 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 Apphia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
2024
28 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,766
Tracked since 1983
Census
Apphia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Apphia, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Apphia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Apphia is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.7%). 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 Apphia 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 Apphia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.4% · 78
- Black or African American21.2% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander18.7% · 36
- Two or more races10.4% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino8.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 2
Popularity
Apphia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Apphia from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 92 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
Apphia 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 Apphia 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 Apphia
The name Apphia is derived from the Greek word "aphia," which means "fruitful" or "abundant." Its origins can be traced back to ancient Greek culture and the early Christian era.
The name Apphia is mentioned in the New Testament of the Bible, specifically in the Epistle to Philemon. In this letter, the Apostle Paul greets a woman named Apphia, who is believed to have been a prominent member of the early Christian church.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Apphia was Apphia of Pergamum, who lived in the 2nd century AD. She was a Christian martyr who was executed during the reign of the Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius for her refusal to renounce her faith.
Another notable figure named Apphia was Apphia of Cyrene, a 5th-century Christian philosopher and theologian from the city of Cyrene in modern-day Libya. She was known for her writings on the nature of the soul and the relationship between faith and reason.
In the 6th century, Apphia of Alexandria was a prominent Christian mystic and ascetic who lived in the city of Alexandria, Egypt. She was renowned for her spiritual teachings and her dedication to a life of prayer and contemplation.
A more recent historical figure with the name Apphia was Apphia Holter (1781-1856), a Norwegian educator and philanthropist. She founded several schools and orphanages in Norway and worked tirelessly to improve the education and welfare of children.
Finally, Apphia Nathaniel (1917-1998) was a renowned Australian artist and painter. She was known for her vibrant and colorful depictions of the Australian landscape and her unique style of abstract expressionism.
While the name Apphia has its roots in ancient Greek culture and early Christianity, it has been used across various cultures and time periods, with each individual bearing this name leaving their mark on history in their own unique way.
People
Apphia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Apphia 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
Apphia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Apphia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Apphia 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 1,543,938 US residents.
Is Apphia a common name?
We classify Apphia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Apphia most popular?
The single biggest year for Apphia was 2024, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Apphia is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Apphia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Apphia, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Apphia 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 Apphia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Apphia appears almost entirely female. Of the 197 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Apphia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Apphia is White at 40.4%. The next largest groups are Black (21.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (18.7%). 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 Apphia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Apphia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.4% (78 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 Apphia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Apphia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Apphia 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 Apphia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Apphia 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 Apphia 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 Apphia?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Apphia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.