Ligia
A feminine name derived from the Greek word meaning "murmuring, of the sea".
Name Census estimates that about 625 living Americans carry the first name Ligia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ligia today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ligia births was 1985 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ligia. 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 Ligia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
625
~ 1 in 548,407 Americans
Peak year
1985
28 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,461
Tracked since 1918
Census
Ligia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 5,841 people with the first name Ligia, which placed it at #3,540 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
#3,540
National first-name rank
People counted
5.8K
5,841 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ligia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ligia is Hispanic at 84.2%. The next largest groups are White (13.6%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Ligia 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 Ligia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.2% · 4,920
- White13.6% · 793
- Black or African American1.1% · 67
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 34
- Two or more races0.4% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 5
Popularity
Ligia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ligia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 185 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
Ligia 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 Ligia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ligias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ligia
The name Ligia has its origins in ancient Greek language and culture. It is derived from the Greek word "lígeia," which means "clear-voiced" or "sweet-sounding." The name is associated with the muse of poetry and music, Terpsichore, known for her melodious voice.
In Greek mythology, Ligia was the name of one of the Oceanids, sea nymphs who were the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. This connection to the sea and the natural world adds to the name's allure and symbolism.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ligia can be found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Homer, who lived around the 8th century BC. In his epic poem "The Odyssey," a character named Ligia is mentioned as a servant of the goddess Athena.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Ligia. One of the most famous was Ligia Diaconescu-Pallas (1911-1977), a Romanian writer and translator known for her work in promoting Romanian literature internationally. Her translations of works by Mihai Eminescu and Ion Luca Caragiale into French were highly acclaimed.
Another historical figure with the name Ligia was Ligia Amadio (1935-2015), an Italian actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and television shows during the 1950s and 1960s. She was particularly well-known for her roles in Italian comedies and musicals.
In the world of science, Ligia Branice (1887-1978) was a Brazilian botanist and educator who made significant contributions to the study of plant taxonomy and ecology. She was a pioneer in the field of plant conservation and worked tirelessly to preserve the biodiversity of Brazil's rainforests.
Ligia Bittencourt (1919-2007) was a Brazilian journalist and writer who played a crucial role in the fight against censorship and the defense of freedom of expression during the military dictatorship in Brazil. Her fearless reporting and advocacy earned her numerous awards and accolades.
Finally, Ligia Vallejo (1914-2003) was a prominent Ecuadorian poet and essayist who was widely regarded as one of the most influential voices in Latin American literature. Her works explored themes of identity, feminism, and social justice, and she was a recipient of numerous literary honors, including the Ecuadorian National Prize for Literature.
People
Ligia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ligia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with L
Other first names starting with L with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ligia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ligia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 625 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ligia 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 548,407 US residents.
Is Ligia a common name?
We classify Ligia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 702 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ligia most popular?
The single biggest year for Ligia was 1985, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ligia 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 Ligia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 5,841 people with the name Ligia, or 1.93 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,540 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 Ligia 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 Ligia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ligia appears almost entirely female. Of the 5,840 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Ligia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ligia is Hispanic at 84.2%. The next largest groups are White (13.6%) and Black (1.1%). 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 Ligia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ligia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.2% (4,920 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 Ligia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ligia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ligia 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 Ligia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ligia 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 Ligia 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 Ligia as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.