Basia
A feminine Polish diminutive name derived from Barbara, meaning "foreigner" or "barbarian".
Name Census estimates that about 353 living Americans carry the first name Basia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Basia today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Basia births was 2002 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Basia. 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
353
~ 1 in 970,975 Americans
Peak year
2002
26 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,847
Tracked since 1988
Census
Basia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 496 people with the first name Basia, which placed it at #20,722 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
#20,722
National first-name rank
People counted
496
496 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Basia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basia is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Basia 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 Basia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.7% · 281
- Black or African American19.8% · 98
- Hispanic or Latino13.1% · 65
- Two or more races8.3% · 41
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Basia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Basia 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 158 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
Basia 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 Basia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Basias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Basia
The name Basia has its origins in the Polish language, derived from the Slavic root "bas," meaning "to speak" or "to tell stories." It is a diminutive form of the name Barbara, which itself comes from the Greek word "barbaros," meaning "foreign" or "strange."
In the Middle Ages, the name Basia was popular among the Polish nobility and aristocracy. It appears in several historical records and chronicles from that period, often associated with prominent families and individuals.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Basia can be found in the 14th century, when Basia of Radom, a Polish noblewoman, was mentioned in the annals of the Benedictine Abbey in Sieciechów.
Another notable figure bearing the name Basia was Basia Zamoyska (1579-1667), a Polish noble and philanthropist who founded several charitable institutions and was known for her support of education and cultural initiatives.
In the 17th century, Basia Puzynina (1610-1701) was a Polish poet and writer who gained recognition for her lyrical works and contributions to the development of Polish literature.
Moving forward in time, Basia Lask (1890-1967) was a Polish actress and singer who gained fame for her performances in the early 20th century. She was particularly renowned for her roles in operettas and musical theater productions.
More recently, Basia Trzetrzelewska (born 1954) is a Polish singer-songwriter and musician who achieved international success in the 1980s and 1990s with her unique blend of jazz, pop, and world music. Her album "Time and Tide" from 1987 was particularly well-received.
Throughout history, the name Basia has been associated with figures from various walks of life, including nobility, artists, writers, and performers. Its enduring popularity in Polish culture reflects its deep-rooted significance and historical legacy.
People
Basia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Basia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Basia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Basia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 353 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Basia 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 970,975 US residents.
Is Basia a common name?
We classify Basia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 362 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Basia most popular?
The single biggest year for Basia was 2002, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Basia is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Basia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 496 people with the name Basia, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,722 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 Basia 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 Basia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Basia appears almost entirely female. Of the 497 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Basia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Basia is White at 56.7%. The next largest groups are Black (19.8%) and Hispanic (13.1%). 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 Basia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Basia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.7% (281 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 Basia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Basia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Basia 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 Basia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Basia 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 Basia 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 are called Basia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.