Gaetana
A feminine Italian name meaning "small landowner".
Name Census estimates that about 199 living Americans carry the first name Gaetana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Gaetana today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gaetana births was 1923 (27 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gaetana. 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 Gaetana is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Gaetanas were born before 1970.
People living today
199
~ 1 in 1,722,384 Americans
Peak year
1923
27 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2008 SSA rank
#18,444
Tracked since 1904
Popularity
Gaetana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gaetana from the 1900s through to the 2000s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 181 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
Gaetana 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 Gaetana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Gaetanas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Gaetana, while Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 95 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gaetana
The name Gaetana has its origins in ancient Italy, derived from the Latin name Caietanus, which referred to someone from the town of Caieta, now known as Gaeta. The name Gaetana is the feminine form of the Italian name Gaetano.
In ancient Roman times, Caieta was a coastal town in the region of Latium, situated along the Tyrrhenian Sea. The name Caietanus was likely given to individuals born or residing in this town during the Roman era. As Latin spread throughout the Roman Empire, the name would have been adopted and adapted in various regions.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gaetana can be found in the 13th century. Gaetana Thiene, born in 1456 in Vicenza, Italy, was a Catholic saint and the founder of the religious Order of the Eremitani. She is known for her charitable works and her efforts to promote education and religious devotion.
Another notable figure with the name Gaetana was Gaetana Agnesi, an Italian mathematician, philosopher, and theologian born in 1718 in Milan. She is renowned for her work in calculus and her contributions to the study of differential equations. Agnesi's book, "Analytical Institutions," published in 1748, was a significant work that helped advance the understanding of mathematics.
In the 19th century, Gaetana Radice, an Italian painter and sculptor, was born in 1858 in Naples. She is known for her realistic and naturalistic works, particularly her portraiture and sculptures depicting everyday life.
Gaetana Ando, born in 1873 in Messina, Sicily, was an Italian educator and women's rights activist. She played a crucial role in promoting education and advocating for gender equality in Italy during the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
Gaetana Turrisi Colonna, born in 1881 in Palermo, Sicily, was an Italian writer and poet. She was a prominent figure in the Sicilian literary movement and is known for her works that explored themes of love, nature, and the complexities of human emotions.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Gaetana. While the name has its roots in ancient Italy, it has been adopted and used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, reflecting its enduring appeal and historical significance.
People
Gaetana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gaetana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gaetana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gaetana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 199 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gaetana 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 1,722,384 US residents.
Is Gaetana a common name?
We classify Gaetana as "Very Rare". It ranks above 74.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 676 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gaetana most popular?
The single biggest year for Gaetana was 1923, when 27 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gaetana is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Gaetana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Gaetana 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.
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.