Hermila
A feminine given name of Spanish origin meaning "little lady" or "mistress".
Name Census estimates that about 149 living Americans carry the first name Hermila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hermila today is around 52 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hermila births was 1944 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hermila. 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
149
~ 1 in 2,300,365 Americans
Peak year
1944
9 babies that year
Average age
52
years old
2015 SSA rank
#17,455
Tracked since 1921
Census
Hermila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,045 people with the first name Hermila, which placed it at #7,460 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
#7,460
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,045 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hermila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hermila is Hispanic at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Hermila 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 Hermila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.8% · 2,001
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.8% · 16
- Black or African American0.7% · 14
- White0.5% · 11
- Two or more races0.1% · 3
Popularity
Hermila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hermila from the 1920s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 42 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Hermila 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 Hermila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hermilas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Hermila
The name Hermila is of Spanish origin, derived from the Latin name Hermilla, which in turn comes from the Roman family name Hermius. The name Hermius is believed to have its roots in the Greek word "herma," meaning a square pillar or statue.
In ancient Roman times, the name Hermilla was used as a feminine form of the masculine name Hermius. It was a relatively uncommon name, but there are records of its use during the Roman Empire period.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Hermila dates back to the 5th century AD, when a woman by that name was mentioned in a historical text from the region of Hispania (present-day Spain and Portugal). However, the details surrounding this individual are scarce.
In the Middle Ages, the name Hermila was occasionally used in Spain and Portugal, although it remained relatively rare. One notable figure was Hermila de Viladomat, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 13th century. She was known for her charitable works and contributions to the construction of a monastery in Barcelona.
During the Renaissance period, the name Hermila gained some popularity among the Spanish nobility. One example is Hermila de Mendoza, a Spanish noblewoman born in the late 15th century, who was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in the court of King Ferdinand II of Aragon.
In the 17th century, Hermila de la Cruz was a Spanish nun and mystic who founded a convent in Madrid. She was known for her spiritual writings and her dedication to religious life.
Another notable figure was Hermila Galindo, a Mexican feminist and political activist born in 1886. She played a significant role in the Mexican Revolution and fought for women's rights, education, and suffrage.
While the name Hermila has never been extremely popular, it has been used sporadically throughout history, primarily in Spanish-speaking regions. Its origins can be traced back to ancient Roman times, and it has been associated with individuals from various walks of life, including nobility, religious figures, and activists.
People
Hermila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hermila 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
Hermila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hermila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 149 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hermila 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 2,300,365 US residents.
Is Hermila a common name?
We classify Hermila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 232 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hermila most popular?
The single biggest year for Hermila was 1944, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hermila is about 52 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hermila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,045 people with the name Hermila, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,460 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 Hermila 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 Hermila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hermila appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,053 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Hermila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hermila is Hispanic at 97.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (0.8%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Hermila most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hermila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.8% (2,001 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 Hermila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hermila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hermila 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 Hermila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hermila 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 Hermila 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 share the name Hermila?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.