Herlinda
Feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "battle-heroine".
Name Census estimates that about 2,554 living Americans carry the first name Herlinda. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Herlinda today is around 56 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Herlinda births was 1952 (128 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Herlinda. 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
2.6K
~ 1 in 134,203 Americans
Peak year
1952
128 babies that year
Average age
56
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,101
Tracked since 1892
Census
Herlinda in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,829 people with the first name Herlinda, which placed it at #3,181 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
#3,181
National first-name rank
People counted
6.8K
6,829 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Herlinda
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herlinda is Hispanic at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Herlinda 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 Herlinda at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.1% · 6,631
- White1.5% · 102
- Black or African American0.5% · 34
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 22
- Two or more races0.1% · 7
Popularity
Herlinda: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Herlinda from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 932 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Herlinda 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 Herlinda during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Herlindas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Herlinda, while New Mexico, Illinois, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 693 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Herlinda
The given name Herlinda is of Spanish origin, derived from the Germanic elements "heri" meaning army and "lind" meaning serpent or snake. It emerged during the Middle Ages, likely around the 8th or 9th century CE, as Spanish names began incorporating Germanic elements due to the Visigothic influence in the Iberian Peninsula.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Herlinda can be found in the medieval Spanish epic poem "El Cantar de Mio Cid," which dates back to the 12th century. In the poem, Herlinda is mentioned as the name of a noblewoman from the court of King Alfonso VI of León and Castile.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Herlinda. One of the most famous was Herlinda of Flanders (c. 1020-1087), a Flemish noblewoman who became the wife of Robert I, Duke of Burgundy. She played a significant role in the political affairs of the Duchy of Burgundy during the 11th century.
Another historical figure was Herlinda of Altdorf (c. 1105-1160), a German abbess who served as the head of the Benedictine convent in Altdorf, Bavaria. She was known for her piety and her efforts to promote education and literacy among the nuns under her leadership.
In the 13th century, Herlinda de Baux (c. 1225-1295) was a prominent figure in the County of Provence, France. She was the daughter of Barral of Baux, a powerful nobleman, and played an important role in the political affairs of the region during her lifetime.
Herlinda de Guzmán (c. 1460-1525) was a Spanish noblewoman who served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Isabella I of Castile. She accompanied the Queen on various important occasions, including the historic meeting with Christopher Columbus upon his return from the Americas in 1493.
While the name Herlinda has been less common in recent times, it has maintained a presence throughout history, particularly in Spain and parts of Latin America, where it remains a traditional and culturally significant name.
People
Herlinda + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Herlinda as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with H
Other first names starting with H with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Herlinda: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Herlinda?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,554 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Herlinda 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 134,203 US residents.
Is Herlinda a common name?
We classify Herlinda as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Herlinda most popular?
The single biggest year for Herlinda was 1952, when 128 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Herlinda is about 56 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Herlinda in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,829 people with the name Herlinda, or 2.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,181 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 Herlinda 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 Herlinda?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Herlinda appears almost entirely female. Of the 6,835 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 Herlinda?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Herlinda is Hispanic at 97.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Herlinda most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Herlinda in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.1% (6,631 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 Herlinda in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Herlinda a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Herlinda 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 Herlinda still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Herlinda 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 Herlinda 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 are named Herlinda?
See how many people have the name Herlinda on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.