Jacinta
A feminine name derived from the plant hyacinth, of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 3,034 living Americans carry the first name Jacinta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Jacinta today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Jacinta births was 1982 (104 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Jacinta. 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 Jacinta with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
3.0K
~ 1 in 112,971 Americans
Peak year
1982
104 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,689
Tracked since 1909
Census
Jacinta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,910 people with the first name Jacinta, which placed it at #3,967 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
#3,967
National first-name rank
People counted
4.9K
4,910 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
36.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Jacinta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacinta is Hispanic at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.0%) and White (23.4%). 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 Jacinta 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 Jacinta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino36.2% · 1,777
- Black or African American28.0% · 1,377
- White23.4% · 1,148
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.4% · 410
- Two or more races3.1% · 154
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 44
Popularity
Jacinta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Jacinta from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 798 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1980s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Jacinta 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 Jacinta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Jacintas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 18 states and territories. California, Texas, Georgia recorded the most babies named Jacinta, while New Jersey, Missouri, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 42 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Jacinta
The name Jacinta originates from the Spanish language, derived from the hyacinth flower's name. The hyacinth flower has deep roots in Greek mythology, where it was said to have sprung from the blood of Hyacinthus, a beautiful Spartan youth accidentally killed by Apollo. The hyacinth was a symbol of rebirth and the resilience of nature.
In the Spanish language, Jacinta is a feminine form of the name Jacinto, itself coming from the Latin name Hyacinthus. The name likely gained popularity in Spain and Portugal during the medieval period, as these regions had strong cultural ties to the classical Greek and Roman worlds.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Jacinta can be found in the 16th century. Jacinta de Navarra (1516-1592) was a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the Convent of St. Joseph in Burgos, Spain. She was known for her deep spirituality and her visions of the Virgin Mary.
In the 17th century, Jacinta Mariscotti (1635-1698) was an Italian noblewoman and philanthropist who founded the Mariscotti Hospital in Bologna, Italy. She dedicated her life to helping the poor and sick, and her hospital provided free medical care to those in need.
The name Jacinta gained further prominence in the 18th century with the story of the Fatima apparitions in Portugal. In 1917, three young Portuguese children – Lucia dos Santos and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto – reported seeing visions of the Virgin Mary near the village of Fatima. Jacinta Marto (1910-1920) was one of the child visionaries and became known for her piety and devotion to the Virgin Mary.
In the 20th century, Jacinta Pichimayr (1925-2022) was an Austrian painter and sculptor known for her abstract and surrealist works. Her art explored themes of spirituality, nature, and the human condition.
Another notable figure with the name Jacinta was Jacinta Saldanha (1907-1983), an Indian social worker and activist who fought for women's rights and education. She founded several schools and organizations aimed at empowering women and improving their access to education and healthcare.
People
Jacinta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Jacinta as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with J
Other first names starting with J with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Jacinta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Jacinta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,034 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Jacinta 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 112,971 US residents.
Is Jacinta a common name?
We classify Jacinta as "Rare". It ranks above 95.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,514 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Jacinta most popular?
The single biggest year for Jacinta was 1982, when 104 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Jacinta is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Jacinta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,910 people with the name Jacinta, or 1.63 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,967 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 Jacinta 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 Jacinta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Jacinta appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,919 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Jacinta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Jacinta is Hispanic at 36.2%. The next largest groups are Black (28.0%) and White (23.4%). 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 Jacinta most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Jacinta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 36.2% (1,777 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 Jacinta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Jacinta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Jacinta 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 Jacinta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Jacinta 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 Jacinta 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 Jacinta?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.