Asta
A feminine name of Old Norse origin meaning "divine strength or beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 286 living Americans carry the first name Asta. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 58.8% of registrations being female. The average person named Asta today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Asta births was 2024 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Asta. 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 Asta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
286
~ 1 in 1,198,442 Americans
Peak year
2024
56 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,946
Tracked since 1914
Census
Asta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 630 people with the first name Asta, which placed it at #17,487 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
#17,487
National first-name rank
People counted
630
630 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
77.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Asta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asta is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Asta 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 Asta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White77.0% · 485
- Black or African American12.5% · 79
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.1% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino2.9% · 18
- Two or more races1.9% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Asta
Asta is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 337 total registrations, 139 (41.2%) were male and 198 (58.8%) were female.
Asta as a male name
- Ranked #2,946 in 2024
- 42 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (42 births)
Asta as a female name
- Ranked #7,616 in 2024
- 14 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (14 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asta leans strongly female. 611 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 19 male bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Asta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Asta from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 174 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
Asta 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 Asta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Astas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Asta
The name Asta is derived from the Old Norse word "áss" meaning "god" or "divine being." It is believed to have originated in Scandinavia and was particularly popular among the Vikings during the 8th to 11th centuries. The name was likely used to honor the powerful gods of Norse mythology, such as Odin and Thor.
In ancient Norse literature, the name Asta is mentioned in the Poetic Edda, a collection of Old Norse poems and stories. One of the poems, the "Grímnismál," refers to a character named Asta, suggesting the name's usage during that time.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Asta is found in the Runic inscriptions from the 8th century in present-day Sweden and Denmark. The name gained popularity across Scandinavia and other regions influenced by Norse culture, such as parts of England and Germany.
Notable historical figures with the name Asta include Asta Unsgård (1910-1991), a Norwegian writer and painter known for her children's books and illustrations. Asta Morris (1908-1988) was an Australian actress and singer who appeared in several films and stage productions.
Asta Nielsen (1881-1972) was a Danish silent film actress who achieved international recognition during the early 20th century. She is considered one of the first major movie stars and a pioneer of the film industry.
Asta Klemming (1905-1991) was a Swedish film actress and director who worked in both Sweden and Germany during the 1930s and 1940s. She is remembered for her roles in several German films during the Nazi era.
Asta Arvidsson (1909-1978) was a Swedish author and playwright known for her works exploring themes of love, relationships, and societal norms. Her plays were widely performed in Sweden and abroad.
While the name Asta has its roots in ancient Norse culture, it has since spread to various parts of the world, particularly in Scandinavia and other European countries. The name continues to be used today, although its popularity has fluctuated over time.
People
Asta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Asta 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
Asta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Asta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 286 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Asta 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 1,198,442 US residents.
Is Asta a common name?
We classify Asta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 337 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Asta most popular?
The single biggest year for Asta was 2024, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Asta is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Asta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 630 people with the name Asta, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,487 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 Asta 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 Asta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Asta leans strongly female. 611 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 19 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Asta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Asta is White at 77.0%. The next largest groups are Black (12.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.1%). 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 Asta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Asta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.0% (485 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 Asta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Asta a female name?
Yes, 58.8% of people registered as Asta 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 Asta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Asta 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 Asta 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 Asta?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Asta at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.