Bia
A feminine name of Portuguese origin, possibly a shortened form of Beatriz, meaning "one who brings happiness".
Name Census estimates that about 111 living Americans carry the first name Bia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bia today is around 5 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bia births was 2024 (23 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bia. 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 Bia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
111
~ 1 in 3,087,877 Americans
Peak year
2024
23 babies that year
Average age
5
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,452
Tracked since 2009
Census
Bia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 218 people with the first name Bia, which placed it at #36,419 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
#36,419
National first-name rank
People counted
218
218 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
39.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bia is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.8%) and Black (16.1%). 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 Bia 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 Bia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White39.0% · 85
- Asian and Pacific Islander29.8% · 65
- Black or African American16.1% · 35
- Hispanic or Latino11.5% · 25
- Two or more races3.7% · 8
Popularity
Bia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bia from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 87 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
Bia 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 Bia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bia
The name Bia is derived from the Greek word "bios," meaning "life" or "way of living." It has its origins in ancient Greek culture and can be traced back to at least the 5th century BCE.
In Greek mythology, Bia was the personification of force, violence, and raw strength. She was one of the children of the primordial deities Pallas and Styx, and was often depicted alongside her siblings Cratos (strength) and Zelus (zeal) as companions of the god Ares, the god of war.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bia can be found in the writings of ancient Greek philosophers and dramatists, such as Aeschylus and Euripides, where it was used to refer to physical force or violence. It was also mentioned in Homer's Iliad as a personification of force.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Bia was Bia of Thasos, a famous Greek poetess who lived in the 6th century BCE. Her poetry was highly regarded in ancient times and was praised by authors like Antipater of Thessalonica.
Another prominent figure named Bia was Bia of Miletus, a Greek historian who lived in the 3rd century BCE. She wrote a historical work titled "On the Milesian War," which has unfortunately been lost to time.
In the Middle Ages, the name Bia was occasionally used as a variant of the name Beatrice, which was derived from the Latin "beatus," meaning "blessed." One notable bearer of this name was Bia de' Tolomei, an Italian noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was known for her piety and charitable works.
During the Renaissance period, the name Bia was sometimes used as a shortened form of the Italian name Bianca, which means "white" or "fair." One notable figure with this name was Bia Sforza, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts who lived in the 15th century.
In more recent times, the name Bia has been used in various cultures and languages, often as a diminutive or shortened form of other names, such as Beatriz or Bianca. However, its historical roots can be traced back to the ancient Greek concept of "bios" and its personification as the goddess Bia.
People
Bia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bia 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
Bia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 111 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bia 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 3,087,877 US residents.
Is Bia a common name?
We classify Bia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 66.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bia most popular?
The single biggest year for Bia was 2024, when 23 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bia is about 5 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 218 people with the name Bia, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,419 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 Bia 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 Bia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bia leans strongly female. 197 people counted with this name were female (90.4%), compared with 21 male bearers (9.6%). 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 Bia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bia is White at 39.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (29.8%) and Black (16.1%). 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 Bia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Bia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 39.0% (85 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 Bia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bia 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 Bia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bia 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 Bia 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 Bia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.