Cia
A feminine French name derived from the Roman family name Cia.
Name Census estimates that about 81 living Americans carry the first name Cia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cia today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cia births was 2022 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cia. 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 Cia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Cia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
81
~ 1 in 4,231,535 Americans
Peak year
2022
9 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
2022 SSA rank
#10,565
Tracked since 1967
Census
Cia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 343 people with the first name Cia, which placed it at #26,904 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
#26,904
National first-name rank
People counted
343
343 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
36.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cia is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.9%). 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 Cia 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 Cia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White36.2% · 124
- Black or African American25.7% · 88
- Asian and Pacific Islander21.9% · 75
- Hispanic or Latino9.3% · 32
- Two or more races5.2% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 6
Popularity
Cia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cia from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 27 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Cia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cia 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 Cia 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 Cia
The name Cia has its origins in the Latin language and is derived from the word "cia," which means "path" or "way." It was initially used as a feminine given name during the Roman era.
In ancient Roman texts and historical records, the name Cia was sometimes associated with the Roman goddess Juno, who was the protector of women and the patron of marriage. It was believed that women bearing this name would be blessed with a path of prosperity and guidance.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Cia can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a woman named Cia Laelia in his work "Ab Urbe Condita" (From the Founding of the City). Cia Laelia was a Roman matron who lived in the 2nd century BC and was known for her virtues and wisdom.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Cia. One such figure was Cia Balia (1506-1556), an Italian painter from the Renaissance period who specialized in portraiture and religious works. Her paintings can be found in various churches and museums across Italy.
Another prominent individual was Cia van Oven (1872-1948), a Dutch painter and printmaker known for her etchings and lithographs depicting landscapes and cityscapes. She was a member of the influential Amsterdam Impressionist movement and her works are housed in several prestigious art collections.
In the field of literature, Cia Rinne (1897-1979) was a notable Finnish writer and poet. Her collections of poetry and short stories explored themes of nature, love, and the struggles of everyday life. She received numerous literary awards and accolades during her lifetime.
Cia Forner (1923-1980) was a Spanish politician and women's rights advocate who played a significant role in the transition to democracy in Spain after the dictatorship of Francisco Franco. She served as a member of the Spanish Parliament and worked tirelessly for the advancement of women's rights and social equality.
Another notable bearer of the name was Cia Verschoor (1920-2004), a Dutch resistance fighter during World War II. She risked her life to help Jewish families escape persecution and played a crucial role in the Dutch resistance movement against the Nazi occupation.
People
Cia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cia 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
Cia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 81 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cia 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 4,231,535 US residents.
Is Cia a common name?
We classify Cia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cia most popular?
The single biggest year for Cia was 2022, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cia is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 343 people with the name Cia, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,904 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 Cia 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 Cia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cia leans strongly female. 313 people counted with this name were female (92.3%), compared with 26 male bearers (7.7%). 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 Cia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cia is White at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (21.9%). 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 Cia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.2% (124 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 Cia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cia 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 Cia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cia 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 Cia 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 have the name Cia?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Cia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.