Carmenita
A diminutive form of the Spanish name Carmen, meaning "song" or "poem".
Name Census estimates that about 15 living Americans carry the first name Carmenita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Carmenita today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Carmenita births was 1982 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Carmenita. 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 Carmenita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
15
~ 1 in 22,850,289 Americans
Peak year
1982
7 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
1982 SSA rank
#8,347
Tracked since 1968
Census
Carmenita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 113 people with the first name Carmenita, which placed it at #51,508 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
#51,508
National first-name rank
People counted
113
113 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
53.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Carmenita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmenita is Black at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.1%) and White (11.5%). 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 Carmenita 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 Carmenita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American53.1% · 60
- Hispanic or Latino22.1% · 25
- White11.5% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander11.5% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 1
- Two or more races0.9% · 1
Popularity
Carmenita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Carmenita from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 7 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
Carmenita 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 Carmenita 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 Carmenita
Carmenita is a Spanish feminine given name derived from the Latin name Carmen, meaning "song" or "poem." It is a diminutive form, with the suffix "-ita" adding a sense of endearment or smallness.
The name Carmen has its roots in ancient Roman culture, where it was originally a title or epithet given to certain deities associated with poetic inspiration, such as the Camenae, a group of minor goddesses associated with springs and fountains. The name was later adopted as a personal name during the Christian era.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Carmenita can be found in the 16th century, when it was used by Spanish settlers in the Americas. It was particularly popular in regions with a strong Spanish cultural influence, such as Mexico and parts of the southwestern United States.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Carmenita. One example is Carmenita Romero (1893-1976), a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
Another notable Carmenita was Carmenita Higginson (1892-1964), an American actress and vaudeville performer who appeared in several Broadway productions in the early 20th century.
In the realm of literature, Carmenita Higginbotham (1882-1973) was an American poet and writer who published several collections of poetry and prose works during her lifetime.
Carmenita Jones (1924-2003) was an American dancer and choreographer who made significant contributions to modern dance in the United States.
Carmenita Lorraine Wood (1857-1922), also known as Carmenita, was a British stage actress and singer who performed in numerous theatrical productions in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Carmenita has its roots in ancient Roman culture and gained popularity in Spanish-speaking regions, it has been embraced and used by individuals from various cultural backgrounds throughout history, reflecting the enduring appeal of this melodic and poetic name.
People
Carmenita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Carmenita 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
Carmenita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Carmenita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Carmenita 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 22,850,289 US residents.
Is Carmenita a common name?
We classify Carmenita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 35.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Carmenita most popular?
The single biggest year for Carmenita was 1982, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Carmenita is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Carmenita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 113 people with the name Carmenita, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #51,508 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 Carmenita 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 Carmenita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Carmenita appears almost entirely female. Of the 119 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 Carmenita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Carmenita is Black at 53.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.1%) and White (11.5%). 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 Carmenita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Carmenita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 53.1% (60 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 Carmenita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Carmenita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Carmenita 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 Carmenita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Carmenita 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 Carmenita 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 Americans are named Carmenita?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.