Isaura
An ancient feminine name derived from the Greek ισαυρα (isaura), meaning "dawn light".
Name Census estimates that about 1,334 living Americans carry the first name Isaura. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Isaura today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Isaura births was 2007 (63 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Isaura. 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 Isaura with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 256,937 Americans
Peak year
2007
63 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,350
Tracked since 1916
Census
Isaura in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,602 people with the first name Isaura, which placed it at #4,939 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
#4,939
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,602 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Isaura
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isaura is Hispanic at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Isaura 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 Isaura at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.5% · 3,259
- White7.7% · 279
- Black or African American1.3% · 47
- Two or more races0.2% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Isaura: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Isaura from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 331 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Isaura 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 Isaura during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Isauras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Isaura, while Massachusetts, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 142 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Isaura
The given name Isaura has its origins in ancient Greece, stemming from the Greek word "isauros," which means "lizard" or "small lizard." The name gained popularity in the Byzantine Empire during the 6th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Isaura can be found in the writings of Byzantine scholar and historian Procopius of Caesarea (c. 500–565 CE). He mentioned an influential Byzantine noblewoman named Isaura who lived during the reign of Emperor Justinian I.
In the 9th century, a nun named Isaura was canonized as a saint by the Eastern Orthodox Church for her pious life and charitable works. She is revered in various regions of Greece and celebrated on May 8th each year.
During the Middle Ages, the name Isaura was relatively uncommon but gained some prominence in the Kingdom of Aragon, which encompassed parts of modern-day Spain and France. One notable figure was Isaura de Navarra (c. 1240–1279), a Spanish noblewoman and the consort of King Theobald II of Navarre.
In the Renaissance era, the name Isaura was embraced by Italian humanists and artists. One of the most famous bearers was Isaura Coronata (c. 1470–1546), an Italian poet and member of the renowned Accademia degli Incogniti in Venice.
Another notable figure was Isaura de Granada (c. 1510–1580), a Spanish mystic and religious writer who is venerated as a Blessed by the Catholic Church.
As the name spread across Europe, it gained variations in spelling and pronunciation, such as Isaure, Isaurie, and Isaurinda. In the 19th century, French author and poet Frédéric Mistral (1830–1914) popularized the name through his literary works, including the epic poem "Mirèio" and the foundation of the Félibrige literary movement.
People
Isaura + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Isaura 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
Isaura: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Isaura?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,334 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Isaura 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 256,937 US residents.
Is Isaura a common name?
We classify Isaura as "Rare". It ranks above 91.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,506 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Isaura most popular?
The single biggest year for Isaura was 2007, when 63 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Isaura is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Isaura in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,602 people with the name Isaura, or 1.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,939 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 Isaura 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 Isaura?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Isaura appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,596 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 Isaura?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Isaura is Hispanic at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (7.7%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Isaura most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Isaura in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (3,259 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 Isaura in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Isaura a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Isaura 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 Isaura still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Isaura 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 Isaura 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 have Isaura as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Isaura, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.