Cota
A feminine name of Hawaiian origin meaning "coral, precious stone".
Name Census estimates that about 8 living Americans carry the first name Cota. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Cota today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Cota births was 2017 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Cota. 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 Cota. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
8
~ 1 in 42,844,292 Americans
Peak year
2017
8 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2017 SSA rank
#9,017
Tracked since 2017
Census
Cota in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 125 people with the first name Cota, which placed it at #49,507 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
#49,507
National first-name rank
People counted
125
125 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Cota
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cota is White at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.8%) and Hispanic (12.0%). 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 Cota 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 Cota at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.2% · 69
- Two or more races12.8% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino12.0% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native7.2% · 9
- Black or African American6.4% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.4% · 8
Popularity
Cota: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Cota 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 Cota during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010s | 8 | 0 | 8 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Cota
The name Cota has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which was prominent in ancient India. It is derived from the word "kota," meaning "fort" or "stronghold." This suggests that the name may have been given to individuals who were born or resided in fortified areas or were perceived as having a strong and resilient character.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Cota can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Cota is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes in the great battle of Kurukshetra. This reference dates back to around the 8th or 9th century BCE, indicating the name's long history.
During the medieval period, the name Cota was prevalent in certain regions of India, particularly in the northern and central parts of the subcontinent. Records from this time period show individuals with this name holding positions of power and influence, such as rulers, military leaders, and scholars.
One notable figure bearing the name Cota was Cota Bhatta, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 17th century CE. He is best known for his work "Vaiyakarana-bhusana," a treatise on Sanskrit grammar and linguistics. His contributions to the field of Sanskrit literature and language studies have been widely recognized.
Another prominent individual with the name Cota was Cota Venkataramana, a 16th-century Telugu poet and scholar from the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India. He authored several works in Telugu literature, including the epic poem "Jaimini Bharatamu," which retells the story of the Mahabharata.
In more recent times, Cota has been a relatively uncommon name, but it has been carried by notable individuals such as Cota Navin Chandra, an Indian poet and writer who received the Sahitya Akademi Award for his literary contributions in the 20th century.
Cota has also been used as a given name in other cultures and languages, albeit less frequently. For example, in Spanish-speaking regions, it is sometimes considered a diminutive form of the name "Cotopaxi," which is derived from the name of an active volcano in Ecuador.
Overall, the name Cota has a rich history and cultural significance, with its origins rooted in ancient Sanskrit and Hindu traditions. While its usage has been relatively limited in modern times, it remains a name with a deep connection to literary, scholarly, and historical achievements from various parts of the world.
People
Cota + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Cota 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
Cota: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cota?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Cota 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 42,844,292 US residents.
Is Cota a common name?
We classify Cota as "Very Rare". It ranks above 24.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 8 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Cota most popular?
The single biggest year for Cota was 2017, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Cota is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Cota in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 125 people with the name Cota, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,507 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 Cota 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 Cota?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Cota on both sides of the split. Of the 125 people counted with this name, 84 were male (67.2%) and 41 were female (32.8%). 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 Cota?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Cota is White at 55.2%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (12.8%) and Hispanic (12.0%). 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 Cota most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Cota in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.2% (69 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 Cota in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Cota a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Cota in the SSA data are male. 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 Cota still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Cota 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 Cota 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 Cota?
You can see how many Americans are named Cota on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.