Ethna
An Irish feminine name from the Gaelic word "aithne" meaning radiance or shining light.
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Ethna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ethna today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ethna births was 1921 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ethna. 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 Ethna. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1921
9 babies that year
Average age
-
1924 SSA rank
#4,140
Tracked since 1892
Census
Ethna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Ethna, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ethna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethna is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.5%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Ethna 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 Ethna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.8% · 103
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 11
- Black or African American7.8% · 10
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 5
Popularity
Ethna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ethna from the 1890s through to the 1920s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 23 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ethna 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 Ethna 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 Ethna
The name Ethna has its origins in Irish Gaelic, where it is derived from the word "eitne," meaning "kernel" or "grain." This name has been in use in Ireland since ancient times, with early records dating back to the 5th century.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name Ethna was St. Ethnea, an Irish princess who lived in the 5th century and is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church. She is believed to have been the daughter of a Irish king and is credited with founding several monasteries in Ireland.
Another notable figure with this name was Ethna the Fair, a legendary Irish princess who lived in the 7th century. According to Irish folklore, she was renowned for her beauty and was sought after by many suitors, including the famous Irish hero Cú Chulainn.
In the 12th century, Ethna ingen Muiredaig was an Irish noblewoman and the wife of Ruaidri Ua Conchobair, the last High King of Ireland. She played a significant role in the political affairs of Ireland during her lifetime.
During the 16th century, Ethna MacCawell was an Irish poet and historian who lived in County Donegal. She is known for her works chronicling the history and genealogy of the MacCawell clan.
In more recent times, Ethna Carbery (1866-1902) was an Irish novelist, poet, and journalist who wrote under the pen name "Ethna Carbery." She was a prominent figure in the Irish literary revival and is remembered for her works celebrating Irish culture and mythology.
While the name Ethna has deep roots in Irish history and culture, it has also been used in various forms and spellings in other parts of the world, such as Etna in Italy and Ethne in Scotland. However, its origins can be traced back to the ancient Irish language and its rich cultural heritage.
People
Ethna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ethna 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
Ethna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ethna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ethna 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 - US residents.
Is Ethna a common name?
We classify Ethna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 38 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ethna most popular?
The single biggest year for Ethna was 1921, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ethna is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ethna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Ethna, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Ethna 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 Ethna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ethna leans strongly female. 126 people counted with this name were female (92.6%), compared with 10 male bearers (7.4%). 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 Ethna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ethna is White at 79.8%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.5%) and Black (7.8%). 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 Ethna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ethna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.8% (103 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 Ethna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ethna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ethna 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 Ethna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ethna 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 Ethna 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 Ethna?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.