Eneida
Of ancient Greek origin, meaning "praise" or "song of praise".
Name Census estimates that about 775 living Americans carry the first name Eneida. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eneida today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eneida births was 1966 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eneida. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Eneida with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
775
~ 1 in 442,264 Americans
Peak year
1966
29 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,977
Tracked since 1951
Census
Eneida in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,742 people with the first name Eneida, which placed it at #5,997 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
#5,997
National first-name rank
People counted
2.7K
2,742 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eneida
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eneida is Hispanic at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Eneida 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 Eneida at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.5% · 2,563
- White5.0% · 136
- Black or African American1.1% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 3
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Eneida: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eneida from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 218 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eneida 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 Eneida during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eneidas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Eneida, while Florida, Massachusetts, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 52 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eneida
The name Eneida is derived from the ancient Greek epic poem "Aeneid" by Virgil, written between 29 and 19 BC. The poem tells the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero who survives the fall of Troy and travels to Italy, where he becomes an ancestor of the Roman people. The name Eneida is the feminine form of Aeneas, which means "praised" or "worthy of praise" in Greek.
While the name itself is not found in ancient texts or historical records, it is believed to have been coined in the 19th century as a literary name inspired by Virgil's epic. The earliest recorded use of the name Eneida is from the early 20th century, though it was likely used sporadically before then.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Eneida was Eneida de Espiritu Santo Canalizo y Navarro (1898-1979), a Mexican educator and writer who founded the Colegio Eneida, a prestigious school for girls in Mexico City. She was a pioneer in promoting women's education and independence in Mexico.
Another notable Eneida was Eneida Quintana de Bonner (1905-1986), a Cuban pianist and composer who was regarded as one of the most talented musicians of her time. She composed numerous pieces for piano and orchestra, and performed extensively throughout Latin America and Europe.
In literature, the name Eneida was used by the Brazilian writer Érico Veríssimo for one of the main characters in his novel "O Tempo e o Vento" (Time and the Wind), published in 1949. Eneida Terra Cambará is a strong-willed and independent woman who defies societal norms and expectations.
Eneida Belén Mirabal (1925-1960) was a Dominican activist and one of the three Mirabal sisters, known as "Las Mariposas" (The Butterflies), who were assassinated by the henchmen of the dictator Rafael Trujillo for their involvement in the underground resistance movement against his regime.
In more recent times, Eneida Obando (born 1975) is a Panamanian writer and poet who has published several collections of poetry and short stories. Her work explores themes of identity, feminism, and social justice, and she is considered one of the most important contemporary writers in Panama.
People
Eneida + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eneida as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Eneida: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eneida?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 775 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eneida 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 442,264 US residents.
Is Eneida a common name?
We classify Eneida as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 876 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eneida most popular?
The single biggest year for Eneida was 1966, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eneida 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 Eneida in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,742 people with the name Eneida, or 0.91 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,997 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 Eneida 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 Eneida?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eneida appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,746 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Eneida?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eneida is Hispanic at 93.5%. The next largest groups are White (5.0%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Eneida most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Eneida in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (2,563 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 Eneida in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eneida a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eneida 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 Eneida still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eneida 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 Eneida 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 Americans are named Eneida?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.