Costella
A feminine Italian diminutive form of name meaning "little rib."
Name Census estimates that about 160 living Americans carry the first name Costella. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Costella today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Costella births was 1948 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Costella. 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
- • The typical person named Costella is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Costellas were born before 1961.
People living today
160
~ 1 in 2,142,215 Americans
Peak year
1948
18 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1967 SSA rank
#6,977
Tracked since 1912
Census
Costella in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 220 people with the first name Costella, which placed it at #36,203 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
#36,203
National first-name rank
People counted
220
220 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
88.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Costella
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Costella is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Costella 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 Costella at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American88.6% · 195
- White4.5% · 10
- Two or more races3.6% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.7% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Costella: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Costella from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1940s, with 119 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1940s peak, Costella remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Costella 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 Costella during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Costellas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Costella
The name Costella is believed to have its origins in Late Latin, derived from the word "costella" which means "rib" or "little bone". This suggests that the name may have initially been used as a nickname or surname for someone with a distinctive physical feature or stature.
In the early medieval period, the name Costella was primarily found in parts of Italy and southern France. It is possible that the name was initially used by those of Roman descent or those living in areas with strong Roman cultural influences.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Costella can be found in a 12th-century Italian manuscript, where it is mentioned as the name of a minor noblewoman from the region of Tuscany. This suggests that the name had gained some popularity among the nobility of the time.
In the 14th century, a Costella da Verona was a renowned painter and illuminator of manuscripts in the city of Verona, Italy. Her intricate and beautiful works, many of which still survive today, are a testament to her artistic talent and the enduring legacy of her name.
During the Renaissance, Costella Baldi (1492-1560) was an Italian humanist scholar and poet from Florence. She was renowned for her command of Latin and Greek, and her writings on philosophy and literature were highly regarded by her contemporaries.
In the 17th century, Costella Manfredi (1610-1688) was an Italian noble and patron of the arts. She was instrumental in supporting and promoting the work of many artists and intellectuals in her court, helping to foster a vibrant cultural scene in her time.
Moving into the 19th century, Costella Piccolomini (1835-1891) was an Italian opera singer and one of the leading sopranos of her day. She performed in some of the most prestigious opera houses across Europe and was particularly celebrated for her interpretations of the works of Verdi and Bellini.
Throughout its history, the name Costella has maintained a strong association with Italian culture and heritage, though it has also been adopted and adapted in other regions over time. While not a widely popular name today, it remains a unique and intriguing choice with deep historical roots.
People
Costella + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Costella 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
Costella: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Costella?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 160 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Costella 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 2,142,215 US residents.
Is Costella a common name?
We classify Costella as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 428 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Costella most popular?
The single biggest year for Costella was 1948, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Costella is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Costella in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 220 people with the name Costella, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #36,203 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 Costella 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 Costella?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Costella leans strongly female. 210 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 12 male bearers (5.4%). 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 Costella?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Costella is Black at 88.6%. The next largest groups are White (4.5%) and Two or More Races (3.6%). 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 Costella most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Costella in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.6% (195 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 Costella in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Costella a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Costella 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 Costella still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Costella 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 Costella 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 Costella?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Costella, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.