Ethelda
Noble and kind, a feminine name of Anglo-Saxon origins.
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Ethelda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ethelda today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ethelda births was 1920 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ethelda. 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 Ethelda is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Etheldas were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ethelda. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
1920
37 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1962 SSA rank
#6,872
Tracked since 1910
Census
Ethelda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 135 people with the first name Ethelda, which placed it at #47,903 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
#47,903
National first-name rank
People counted
135
135 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
50.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ethelda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethelda is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (37.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). 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 Ethelda 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 Ethelda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White50.4% · 68
- Black or African American37.8% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.9% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 3
- Two or more races2.2% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 2
Popularity
Ethelda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ethelda from the 1910s through to the 1960s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 198 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
Ethelda 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 Ethelda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Etheldas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ethelda
The given name Ethelda has its origins in Old English, a West Germanic language spoken by the Anglo-Saxons in Britain from around the 5th to the 11th century. It is a combination of two elements: "æthel," meaning "noble," and "hildr," meaning "battle" or "war." Therefore, the name Ethelda can be interpreted as "noble battle" or "noble warrior."
Ethelda was a relatively common name among Anglo-Saxon women, particularly those of higher social status or noble birth. The name is first recorded in the Domesday Book of 1086, a comprehensive survey of land ownership and taxation in England commissioned by William the Conqueror.
One of the earliest known historical figures to bear the name Ethelda was an English noblewoman who lived in the late 11th century. She was the daughter of Leofric, Earl of Mercia, and Lady Godiva, famous for her legendary ride through Coventry.
Another notable Ethelda was a 12th-century English nun and writer who authored a collection of hagiographies, or saints' lives. Her work, known as the "Life of St. Edward the Confessor," provides valuable insights into the religious and cultural life of medieval England.
In the 13th century, an Ethelda was recorded as the abbess of the Benedictine convent at Wilton, a prestigious religious institution in Wiltshire, England. This Ethelda was known for her piety and leadership, guiding the convent through a period of political and religious turmoil.
A later Ethelda of note was Ethelda of Hertfordshire, who lived in the late 14th century. She was a wealthy landowner and philanthropist, known for her generous donations to the church and her support of local communities.
In the 16th century, an Ethelda Beresford was born in Staffordshire, England, in 1532. She was a member of the influential Beresford family and was known for her intelligence and love of learning, which was uncommon for women of her time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals named Ethelda throughout history, but the name has been used across various periods and regions, reflecting its deep roots in English culture and language.
People
Ethelda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ethelda 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
Ethelda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ethelda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ethelda 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Ethelda a common name?
We classify Ethelda as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ethelda most popular?
The single biggest year for Ethelda was 1920, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ethelda is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ethelda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 135 people with the name Ethelda, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,903 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 Ethelda 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 Ethelda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ethelda appears almost entirely female. Of the 136 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 Ethelda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethelda is White at 50.4%. The next largest groups are Black (37.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (5.9%). 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 Ethelda most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ethelda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.4% (68 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 Ethelda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ethelda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ethelda 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 Ethelda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ethelda 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 Ethelda 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 Ethelda as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Ethelda, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.