Atavia
Of Arabic origin, meaning "gift" or "present".
Name Census estimates that about 222 living Americans carry the first name Atavia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Atavia today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Atavia births was 2005 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Atavia. 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.
People living today
222
~ 1 in 1,543,938 Americans
Peak year
2005
19 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,533
Tracked since 1982
Census
Atavia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 206 people with the first name Atavia, which placed it at #37,688 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
#37,688
National first-name rank
People counted
206
206 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
79.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Atavia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atavia is Black at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Atavia 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 Atavia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American79.6% · 164
- Two or more races7.3% · 15
- Hispanic or Latino6.3% · 13
- White5.3% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.0% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Atavia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Atavia from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 84 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Atavia 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 Atavia 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 Atavia
The name Atavia is believed to have originated from the Etruscan civilization, which flourished in ancient Italy between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE. It is thought to be derived from the Etruscan word "atav," meaning "ancestor" or "forefather."
The earliest known record of the name Atavia dates back to the 5th century BCE, where it appears on an Etruscan inscription found in the ancient city of Cerveteri. This inscription was dedicated to a woman named Atavia, suggesting that the name was in use among the Etruscan nobility or upper classes.
In the following centuries, the name Atavia appears sporadically in various historical records and texts from the Roman Empire. It is mentioned in several ancient Roman texts, including the works of the historian Livy and the philosopher Seneca.
One notable individual named Atavia was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 1st century BCE. She was the wife of the Roman general and statesman Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who was a close friend and ally of the emperor Augustus.
Another famous Atavia was a Christian martyr who lived in the 3rd century CE. She was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian for refusing to renounce her faith.
In the Middle Ages, the name Atavia fell out of widespread use but remained present in some regions of Italy. It resurfaced in the Renaissance period, with a few notable individuals bearing the name.
Atavia Merici was an Italian religious leader and educator who founded the Order of Ursulines in the 16th century. She was born in 1474 and dedicated her life to providing education for young women.
Another notable Atavia was Atavia Acciaioli, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 15th century. She was instrumental in supporting the works of famous Renaissance artists and intellectuals, including the poet Angelo Poliziano.
While the name Atavia is relatively uncommon today, it has a rich history rooted in ancient Etruscan and Roman civilizations, and it has been borne by a number of notable individuals throughout the centuries.
People
Atavia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Atavia 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
Atavia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Atavia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 222 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Atavia 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 Atavia a common name?
We classify Atavia 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, 230 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Atavia most popular?
The single biggest year for Atavia was 2005, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Atavia is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Atavia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 206 people with the name Atavia, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,688 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 Atavia 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 Atavia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Atavia appears almost entirely female. Of the 204 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 Atavia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Atavia is Black at 79.6%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (7.3%) and Hispanic (6.3%). 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 Atavia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Atavia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.6% (164 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 Atavia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Atavia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Atavia 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 Atavia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Atavia 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 Atavia 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 Atavia as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.