Cardea
A Latin feminine name meaning "door hinge" or "guardian of thresholds".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Cardea. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cardea today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cardea births was 2007 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cardea. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cardea. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2007
6 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2007 SSA rank
#11,135
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Cardea: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cardea 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 Cardea during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cardea
The name Cardea has its origins in ancient Roman mythology and religion. It is believed to be derived from the Latin word "cardo," which means "hinge" or "pivot." The name Cardea was associated with a minor Roman goddess who was the protector of door hinges and thresholds.
In Roman mythology, Cardea was one of the most ancient deities worshipped. She was revered as the guardian of gates, doors, and entrances, symbolizing the transition between the outside world and the safety of the home. Her festival, known as the Carmentalia, was celebrated on January 11th and June 1st, during which offerings were made to her at the entrances of homes and temples.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Cardea can be found in the works of ancient Roman writers such as Ovid, Pliny the Elder, and Varro. Ovid, in his "Fasti," mentions Cardea as the protector of door hinges, while Pliny the Elder, in his "Natural History," refers to her as the goddess who presided over the opening and closing of doors.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Cardea. One such person was Cardea, a priestess of the goddess Cardea, who lived during the reign of the Roman emperor Domitian in the 1st century AD. Another was Cardea, a Christian martyr who was executed during the persecution of Christians in the 3rd century AD under the reign of the Roman emperor Decius.
In the Middle Ages, the name Cardea was rarely used, but it resurfaced during the Renaissance period. A notable figure from this time was Cardea Colonna, an Italian noblewoman and patron of the arts, who lived in the 15th century. She was known for her support of humanist scholars and artists, and her palace in Rome was a center of intellectual and cultural activity.
Another historical figure with the name Cardea was Cardea Borghese, an Italian noblewoman from the 16th century who was a member of the powerful Borghese family. She was known for her charitable works and her support of the arts and literature.
In more recent times, the name Cardea has been used occasionally, though it remains relatively uncommon. One notable bearer of the name was Cardea Baccanti, an Italian painter and sculptor who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She was known for her realistic depictions of rural life and her contributions to the Macchiaioli movement in Italian art.
People
Cardea + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cardea as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Cardea: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cardea?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cardea 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Cardea a common name?
We classify Cardea as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cardea most popular?
The single biggest year for Cardea was 2007, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cardea is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Cardea in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cardea a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cardea in the SSA data are male. 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 Cardea still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cardea 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 Cardea 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Cardea?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.