Celeste
Feminine name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".
Name Census estimates that about 53,978 living Americans carry the first name Celeste. It sits at #198 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Celeste today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Celeste births was 2004 (1,637 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Celeste. 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
- • Although Celeste is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 57 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
54K
~ 1 in 6,350 Americans
Peak year
2004
1,637 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2008 SSA rank
#198
Tracked since 1881
Gender
Gender distribution for Celeste
Out of the 64,006 babies given the name Celeste since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Celeste as a male name
- Ranked #12,840 in 2008
- 5 male births in 2008
- Peak: 1918 (7 births)
Celeste as a female name
- Ranked #198 in 2024
- 1,556 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2004 (1,637 births)
Popularity
Celeste: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Celeste from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 10,560 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Celeste remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Celeste 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 Celeste during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Celestes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Celeste, while Vermont, North Dakota, Alaska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,187 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Celeste
The name Celeste finds its origins in the Latin word 'caelestis', which translates to 'heavenly' or 'celestial'. It is derived from the Latin word 'caelum', meaning 'sky' or 'heaven'. The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Roman times, where it was used to refer to deities or celestial beings associated with the heavens.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Celeste can be found in the writings of the Roman philosopher Seneca the Younger, who lived from 4 BC to 65 AD. He used the term 'caelestis' to describe the celestial realm and the heavenly bodies.
In the Christian tradition, the name Celeste gained popularity as a name for saints and martyrs. One notable example is Saint Celeste, a third-century Roman martyr who was executed during the reign of Emperor Decius in 250 AD for her Christian faith.
The name Celeste has been borne by several notable historical figures throughout the centuries. One prominent example is Celeste Galicia Valdovinos, a Mexican revolutionary who fought alongside Emiliano Zapata during the Mexican Revolution in the early 20th century. She was born in 1888 and played a crucial role in the revolutionary movement.
Another famous bearer of the name was Celeste Holm, an American actress and singer who won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in the 1947 film "Gentleman's Agreement". She was born in 1917 and had a successful career in both films and on Broadway.
Celeste Albaret, born in 1891, was a French housekeeper and confidante of the writer Marcel Proust. She played a pivotal role in preserving Proust's legacy by overseeing the publication of his unfinished works after his death.
The name Celeste also has connections to the world of astronomy. Celeste Tombaugh, born in 1927, was the wife of Clyde Tombaugh, the American astronomer who discovered the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930. She played a significant role in supporting her husband's astronomical work.
Celeste Mendoza, born in 1989, is a contemporary American singer-songwriter and musician known for her fusion of pop, R&B, and soul genres. She has gained recognition for her powerful vocals and emotional songwriting.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Celeste
People
Celeste + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Celeste 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
Celeste: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Celeste?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 53,978 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Celeste 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 6,350 US residents.
Is Celeste a common name?
We classify Celeste as "Uncommon". It ranks above 99.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 64,006 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Celeste most popular?
The single biggest year for Celeste was 2004, when 1,637 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Celeste is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Celeste a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Celeste 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.
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.