Ermelinda
Of Italian and Old German origin meaning "complete battle" or "universal warrior".
Name Census estimates that about 881 living Americans carry the first name Ermelinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ermelinda today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ermelinda births was 1964 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ermelinda. 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.
People living today
881
~ 1 in 389,051 Americans
Peak year
1964
41 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2019 SSA rank
#12,866
Tracked since 1912
Census
Ermelinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,955 people with the first name Ermelinda, which placed it at #7,691 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
#7,691
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
1,955 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
72.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ermelinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ermelinda is Hispanic at 72.3%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). 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 Ermelinda 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 Ermelinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino72.3% · 1,414
- White19.1% · 374
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 131
- Black or African American1.4% · 28
- Two or more races0.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Popularity
Ermelinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ermelinda from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 283 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
Ermelinda 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 Ermelinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ermelindas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Ermelinda, while New Mexico, New York, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 100 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ermelinda
The name Ermelinda originates from the Germanic languages, with roots that can be traced back to the 5th and 6th centuries AD. It is derived from the words "ermil" meaning "entire" or "whole" and "lind" meaning "soft" or "tender." Together, the name can be interpreted as "entirely soft" or "completely tender."
Ermelinda gained popularity during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions where Germanic influence was strong, such as parts of modern-day Germany, France, and Italy. The name was often associated with nobility and was borne by several notable figures throughout history.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name dates back to the 9th century, when an Ermelinda was mentioned in the Annals of Fulda, a historical chronicle written by monks in the Frankish Empire. Ermelinda was the name of a noblewoman who lived during the reign of Charlemagne.
In the 11th century, an Ermelinda di Biandrate was a prominent figure in the Kingdom of Italy. She was the wife of King Arduin of Italy and played a significant role in the political affairs of the region during her husband's reign.
Another notable Ermelinda was Ermelinda of Lenzburg, who lived in the 12th century. She was a countess and the daughter of Arnold III, Count of Lenzburg. Ermelinda was known for her piety and her patronage of religious institutions.
In the 13th century, an Ermelinda di Narbona was a prominent figure in the Catalan region of Spain. She was the wife of Jaume I, King of Aragon, and played an important role in the cultural and artistic life of the Catalan court.
In the 15th century, Ermelinda Lambertazzi was an Italian noblewoman from the influential Lambertazzi family of Bologna. She was known for her beauty and her involvement in the political intrigues of the time.
These are just a few examples of the historical figures who bore the name Ermelinda. The name has endured throughout the centuries, reflecting its rich Germanic heritage and its association with nobility and cultural significance.
People
Ermelinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ermelinda 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
Ermelinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ermelinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 881 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ermelinda 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 389,051 US residents.
Is Ermelinda a common name?
We classify Ermelinda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,374 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ermelinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Ermelinda was 1964, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ermelinda is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ermelinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,955 people with the name Ermelinda, or 0.65 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,691 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 Ermelinda 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 Ermelinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ermelinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,951 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Ermelinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ermelinda is Hispanic at 72.3%. The next largest groups are White (19.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.7%). 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 Ermelinda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ermelinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.3% (1,414 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 Ermelinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ermelinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ermelinda 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 Ermelinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ermelinda 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 Ermelinda 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 have Ermelinda as a first name?
Want to know how many people have the name Ermelinda? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.