Hypatia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "supreme" or "highest".
Name Census estimates that about 90 living Americans carry the first name Hypatia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Hypatia today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Hypatia births was 2013 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Hypatia. 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 Hypatia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
90
~ 1 in 3,808,382 Americans
Peak year
2013
11 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,078
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Hypatia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Hypatia from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 50 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
Hypatia 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 Hypatia 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 Hypatia
The name Hypatia originated from the Greek language, deriving from the word "hypatos" meaning "highest" or "supreme". It was a feminine name given in ancient Greece, particularly in the city of Alexandria during the 4th and 5th centuries AD.
Hypatia was the name of one of the most famous women of the ancient world. Hypatia of Alexandria, born around 350-370 AD, was a Greek philosopher, mathematician, and astronomer. She is considered to be the first notable woman in mathematics. Hypatia lived in Alexandria and taught philosophy and astronomy. She was tragically killed by a Christian mob in 415 AD.
The name gained popularity in the ancient world due to Hypatia of Alexandria's fame and influence. It appeared in various historical records and texts from the time period, cementing its place in Greek culture and history.
Another notable Hypatia was Hypatia of Cyren, a Greek mathematician and philosopher who lived in the 4th century BC. She is mentioned in several ancient texts and is considered one of the earliest known female mathematicians.
In the 6th century AD, Hypatia of Constantinople was a Byzantine abbess and saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church. She founded the Monastery of Christ the Philanthropist in Constantinople.
During the Renaissance period, the name Hypatia gained renewed interest due to the rediscovery of ancient Greek texts and the fascination with classical culture. Hypatia Ronhovde, born in 1554, was a Norwegian poet and translator who helped revive interest in the name.
In the 19th century, Hypatia Bradlaugh Bonner, born in 1858, was a British secularist and women's rights activist. She was named after the famous Hypatia of Alexandria, reflecting the influence of the historical figure on modern naming traditions.
People
Hypatia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Hypatia 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
Hypatia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Hypatia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 90 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Hypatia 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 3,808,382 US residents.
Is Hypatia a common name?
We classify Hypatia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 63% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 91 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Hypatia most popular?
The single biggest year for Hypatia was 2013, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Hypatia is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Hypatia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Hypatia 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.