Colista
Feminine variation of the Italian surname derived from coal seller or charcoal maker.
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Colista. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Colista today is around 35 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Colista births was 1914 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Colista. 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 Colista. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1914
5 babies that year
Average age
35
years old
2006 SSA rank
#17,728
Tracked since 1914
Census
Colista in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 124 people with the first name Colista, which placed it at #49,647 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
#49,647
National first-name rank
People counted
124
124 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
70.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Colista
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colista is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Colista 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 Colista at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White70.2% · 87
- Black or African American16.9% · 21
- Hispanic or Latino5.6% · 7
- Two or more races4.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.4% · 3
Popularity
Colista: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Colista from the 1910s through to the 2000s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 10 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1920s peak, Colista remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Colista 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 Colista 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 Colista
The name Colista originated in the late Middle Ages, likely deriving from the Greek word "kolos," meaning "lopped" or "truncated." This suggests a connection to a shorter form of a longer name, perhaps a diminutive or nickname. The earliest recorded use of Colista appears in 14th-century Italian records, primarily concentrated in regions like Tuscany and Umbria.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Colista was an Italian noblewoman, Colista Trinci (c. 1350-1390), who was a member of the prominent Trinci family that ruled over the city-state of Foligno in Umbria. She played a significant role in the political intrigues and power struggles of her time.
In the 15th century, a Venetian artist known as Colista da Venezia (c. 1420-1480) gained recognition for her intricate miniature paintings and illuminated manuscripts. Her work was often commissioned by wealthy patrons and found its way into the collections of European nobles and royalty.
Moving into the 16th century, Colista Piccolomini (1503-1568) was an Italian noblewoman and the daughter of Giacomo Piccolomini, the Duke of Amalfi. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Catholic Church during the Counter-Reformation.
In the 17th century, Colista Maria Ceccherini (1630-1685) was a Florentine nun and mystic who is venerated in the Catholic Church. She founded the Order of the Handmaids of the Blessed Virgin Mary and is recognized for her spiritual writings and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
Lastly, in the 18th century, Colista Fortini (1745-1821) was an Italian poet and playwright from Verona. She gained recognition for her pastoral poems and tragedies, which were often performed in the theaters of her time. Her work helped to shape the literary landscape of the Venetian region.
While the name Colista has its roots in medieval Italy, it has since spread to other parts of the world, albeit with varying levels of popularity. Its unique sound and historical associations have made it a distinctive choice for parents seeking an uncommon name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Colista + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Colista 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
Colista: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Colista?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Colista 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Colista a common name?
We classify Colista as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 25 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Colista most popular?
The single biggest year for Colista was 1914, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Colista is about 35 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Colista in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 124 people with the name Colista, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,647 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 Colista 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 Colista?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Colista leans strongly female. 129 people counted with this name were female (95.6%), compared with 6 male bearers (4.4%). 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 Colista?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Colista is White at 70.2%. The next largest groups are Black (16.9%) and Hispanic (5.6%). 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 Colista most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Colista in the 2020 Census, accounting for 70.2% (87 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 Colista in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Colista a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Colista 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 Colista still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Colista 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 Colista 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 are named Colista?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Colista at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.