Idia
A feminine name of unknown origin, potentially having Greek roots.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Idia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Idia today is around 37 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Idia births was 1916 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Idia. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Idia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Idia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
1916
7 babies that year
Average age
37
years old
2022 SSA rank
#14,227
Tracked since 1916
Census
Idia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 157 people with the first name Idia, which placed it at #44,257 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
#44,257
National first-name rank
People counted
157
157 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
45.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Idia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Idia is Hispanic at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (42.7%) and White (8.9%). 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 Idia 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 Idia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino45.9% · 72
- Black or African American42.7% · 67
- White8.9% · 14
- Two or more races1.9% · 3
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 1
Popularity
Idia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Idia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 12 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1910s peak, Idia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Idia 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 Idia 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 Idia
The name Idia is believed to have originated from the Greek language, with roots dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "idios," which means "one's own" or "private." The earliest known usage of this name can be traced back to the 5th century BCE in ancient Greece.
In Greek mythology, Idia was the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. She was regarded as a personification of the concept of "one's own nature" or "individuality." This mythological reference suggests that the name Idia carried connotations of uniqueness and self-identity in ancient Greek culture.
One of the earliest recorded historical figures with the name Idia was Idia of Erythrae, a Greek woman who lived in the 4th century BCE. She was renowned for her philosophical writings and her contributions to the field of ethics. Unfortunately, very little is known about her life and works, as most of her writings have been lost to history.
In the 3rd century CE, there was a Christian martyr named Idia who was executed during the Diocletian persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. She is venerated as a saint in the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, and her feast day is celebrated on May 8th.
During the Byzantine era, Idia was the name of a prominent noblewoman who lived in the 11th century. She was the wife of the Byzantine general George Maniaces and played a significant role in the political and military affairs of the empire.
In more recent history, Idia Ouarghiri was a Moroccan writer and feminist activist who lived from 1952 to 2019. She was a prominent figure in the Moroccan literary scene and was known for her works that explored themes of gender, identity, and societal issues.
It's worth noting that while the name Idia has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has been used across various regions and cultures over time, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. However, the core meaning and connotations of individuality and uniqueness have remained consistent throughout its history.
People
Idia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Idia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with I
Other first names starting with I with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Idia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Idia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Idia 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Idia a common name?
We classify Idia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 34 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Idia most popular?
The single biggest year for Idia was 1916, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Idia is about 37 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Idia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 157 people with the name Idia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #44,257 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 Idia 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 Idia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Idia appears almost entirely female. Of the 152 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Idia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Idia is Hispanic at 45.9%. The next largest groups are Black (42.7%) and White (8.9%). 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 Idia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Idia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.9% (72 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 Idia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Idia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Idia 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 Idia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Idia 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 Idia 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 called Idia?
You can see how many Americans are named Idia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.