Creta
Italian feminine form of the ancient Greek name "Krētē," meaning "island of Crete."
Name Census estimates that about 68 living Americans carry the first name Creta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Creta today is around 79 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Creta births was 1916 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Creta. 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 Creta is about 79 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Cretas were born before 1957.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Creta. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
68
~ 1 in 5,040,505 Americans
Peak year
1916
17 babies that year
Average age
79
years old
1963 SSA rank
#6,017
Tracked since 1898
Census
Creta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173 people with the first name Creta, which placed it at #41,949 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
#41,949
National first-name rank
People counted
173
173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
82.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Creta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creta is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Creta 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 Creta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White82.7% · 143
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 10
- Black or African American5.2% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.9% · 5
- Two or more races2.9% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Creta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Creta from the 1890s through to the 1960s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 85 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Creta 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 Creta 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 Creta
The name Creta is derived from the ancient Greek word "Krete", which means "Crete", the largest and most populous of the Greek islands. The origin of the name can be traced back to the Minoan civilization, which flourished on the island of Crete during the Bronze Age, around 2700-1450 BCE.
The name Creta is closely associated with the mythological figure of Europa, a Phoenician princess who was abducted by Zeus, the king of the Greek gods, and taken to the island of Crete. According to Greek mythology, Europa gave birth to Minos, the legendary king of Crete, who established the powerful Minoan civilization.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Creta can be found in ancient Greek literature, such as the works of Homer and Hesiod. In Homer's Iliad, Crete is mentioned as the homeland of the legendary archer Idomeneus, who led the Cretan contingent in the Trojan War.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Creta. In the 5th century BCE, Creta of Cyrene was a renowned painter from ancient Greece, known for her exceptional skills in portraiture. Unfortunately, none of her works have survived to the present day.
In the 1st century BCE, Creta was the name of a Roman woman who lived during the reign of Emperor Augustus. She is mentioned in several ancient Roman texts, including the writings of the historian Suetonius, as a respected and influential figure in Roman society.
During the Byzantine era, Creta was the name of a renowned scholar and philosopher who lived in the 9th century CE. She is credited with writing several treatises on logic and metaphysics, although most of her works have been lost over time.
In the 12th century, Creta was the name of a Crusader from France who participated in the Third Crusade, led by King Richard I of England. She is said to have fought bravely in the Battle of Arsuf in 1191, where the Crusaders achieved a decisive victory over the Ayyubid forces.
In the 16th century, Creta was the name of an Italian painter from the Renaissance era, known for her vibrant and expressive works depicting religious and mythological themes. Unfortunately, few details about her life and career have been preserved.
While the name Creta is not as common today as it once was, it remains a testament to the rich cultural heritage and history of the Greek island of Crete, and the enduring influence of ancient Greek civilization on the world.
People
Creta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Creta 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
Creta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Creta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 68 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Creta 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 5,040,505 US residents.
Is Creta a common name?
We classify Creta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 350 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Creta most popular?
The single biggest year for Creta was 1916, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Creta is about 79 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Creta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173 people with the name Creta, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,949 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 Creta 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 Creta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Creta appears almost entirely female. Of the 163 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Creta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Creta is White at 82.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Black (5.2%). 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 Creta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Creta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.7% (143 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 Creta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Creta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Creta 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 Creta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Creta 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 Creta 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 share the name Creta?
Want to know how many Americans are named Creta? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.