Cordellia
Of French origin, meaning "whimsical" or "indecisive, fickle heart".
Name Census estimates that about 39 living Americans carry the first name Cordellia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Cordellia today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cordellia births was 1921 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cordellia. 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 Cordellia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
39
~ 1 in 8,788,573 Americans
Peak year
1921
6 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,765
Tracked since 1921
Census
Cordellia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 131 people with the first name Cordellia, which placed it at #48,547 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
#48,547
National first-name rank
People counted
131
131 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cordellia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordellia is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Cordellia 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 Cordellia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.8% · 60
- Black or African American36.6% · 48
- Two or more races6.1% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino5.3% · 7
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.8% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 3
Popularity
Cordellia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Cordellia from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 20 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Cordellia 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 Cordellia 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 Cordellia
The name Cordellia has its origins in Latin and can be traced back to the medieval era. It is derived from the French word "corde," meaning heart, and the Latin word "cor," also meaning heart. The name was likely created as a combination of these two words, signifying a person with a kind and loving heart.
One of the earliest known references to the name Cordellia can be found in the play "King Lear" by William Shakespeare, written between 1605 and 1606. In the play, Cordellia is the youngest daughter of King Lear, portrayed as a caring and devoted character who refuses to flatter her father, leading to her initial rejection. Her unwavering love and loyalty for her father, despite his mistreatment, make her a tragic heroine in the play.
An early recorded instance of the name Cordellia dates back to the 16th century, when it was used for the daughter of King Henry VIII of England and his first wife, Catherine of Aragon. The princess, born in 1512, sadly died just three weeks after her birth.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Cordellia, including Cordellia Knott (1834-1862), an American pioneer and member of the Knott family, who were among the founders of Knott's Berry Farm in California. Another prominent figure was Cordellia Leigh Brasher (1908-1981), an American philanthropist and socialite known for her charitable work and support of the arts.
In the literary world, Cordellia Tate (1871-1935) was an American writer and educator, best known for her children's book "The Sap-Green Meadows," published in 1911. Additionally, Cordellia Knott-Gregory (1844-1925) was a British poet and writer active in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
While the name Cordellia may not be as common today as it once was, its historical significance and literary associations have left an enduring legacy, capturing the essence of a loving and devoted heart.
People
Cordellia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cordellia 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
Cordellia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cordellia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 39 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cordellia 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 8,788,573 US residents.
Is Cordellia a common name?
We classify Cordellia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 50.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 61 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cordellia most popular?
The single biggest year for Cordellia was 1921, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cordellia is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cordellia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 131 people with the name Cordellia, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,547 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 Cordellia 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 Cordellia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Cordellia appears almost entirely female. Of the 129 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Cordellia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cordellia is White at 45.8%. The next largest groups are Black (36.6%) and Two or More Races (6.1%). 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 Cordellia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cordellia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.8% (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 Cordellia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cordellia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cordellia 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 Cordellia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cordellia 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 Cordellia 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 called Cordellia?
You can see how many Americans are named Cordellia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.