Hortensia
Of Latin origin, meaning "gardener" or associated with gardens and flowers.
Name Census estimates that about 664 living Americans carry the first name Hortensia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hortensia today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hortensia births was 1928 (66 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hortensia. 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 Hortensia is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Hortensias were born before 1969.
People living today
664
~ 1 in 516,196 Americans
Peak year
1928
66 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
1995 SSA rank
#14,249
Tracked since 1896
Census
Hortensia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,292 people with the first name Hortensia, which placed it at #5,276 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
#5,276
National first-name rank
People counted
3.3K
3,292 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Hortensia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hortensia is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Black (2.8%) and White (1.5%). 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 Hortensia 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 Hortensia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.0% · 3,127
- Black or African American2.8% · 92
- White1.5% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
- Two or more races0.1% · 4
Popularity
Hortensia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hortensia from the 1890s through to the 1990s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 443 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
Hortensia 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 Hortensia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Hortensias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Hortensia, while New York, Arizona, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 298 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Hortensia
The given name Hortensia has its origins in the Latin language and ancient Roman culture, dating back to the Republican and Imperial periods. It is derived from the Latin word "hortus," meaning "garden," and is related to the name of the ancient Roman gens (clan) Hortensii.
One of the earliest recorded bearers of the name was Quintus Hortensius, a renowned Roman orator and advocate who lived from 114 BC to 50 BC. He was known for his oratorical skills and was considered one of the greatest lawyers of his time.
Another historical figure with the name Hortensia was the daughter of the famous Roman orator Quintus Hortensius. She lived in the 1st century BC and is remembered for her courageous speech before the Second Triumvirate, in which she defended the rights of Roman women to inherit property.
In the Middle Ages, the name Hortensia was occasionally used in various European countries, although it was not as common as some other names of Latin origin. One notable bearer of the name was Hortensia Guicciardini (1521-1598), an Italian noblewoman and writer from Florence.
During the Renaissance and Baroque periods, the name Hortensia gained some popularity among the upper classes in various European countries. One example is Hortensia Mancini (1646-1699), an Italian-French courtier and one of the famous Mancini sisters who influenced the court of Louis XIV in France.
In the 19th century, the name Hortensia was occasionally used in various parts of Europe, particularly in France and Italy. One notable bearer was Hortensia Félicité Eugénie Beauharnais (1811-1837), the daughter of Eugène de Beauharnais and Princess Augusta of Bavaria, and the adopted daughter of Napoleon I.
While not an extremely common name, Hortensia has been used throughout history in various parts of Europe, particularly in Italy, France, and other regions influenced by Roman culture and the Latin language. Its associations with ancient Roman figures, as well as its botanical connections, have contributed to its enduring appeal as a given name.
People
Hortensia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hortensia 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
Hortensia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hortensia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 664 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hortensia 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 516,196 US residents.
Is Hortensia a common name?
We classify Hortensia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,794 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hortensia most popular?
The single biggest year for Hortensia was 1928, when 66 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hortensia is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Hortensia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,292 people with the name Hortensia, or 1.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,276 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 Hortensia 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 Hortensia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Hortensia appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,295 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Hortensia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Hortensia is Hispanic at 95.0%. The next largest groups are Black (2.8%) and White (1.5%). 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 Hortensia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Hortensia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.0% (3,127 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 Hortensia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Hortensia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hortensia 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 Hortensia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Hortensia 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 Hortensia 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 common is the name Hortensia?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Hortensia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.