Lycia
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "from Lycia", an ancient region in modern-day Turkey.
Name Census estimates that about 61 living Americans carry the first name Lycia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Lycia today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Lycia births was 1961 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Lycia. 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 Lycia with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Lycia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
61
~ 1 in 5,618,924 Americans
Peak year
1961
10 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
1999 SSA rank
#15,843
Tracked since 1960
Census
Lycia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 197 people with the first name Lycia, which placed it at #38,754 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
#38,754
National first-name rank
People counted
197
197 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
56.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Lycia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lycia is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.8%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Lycia 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 Lycia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White56.3% · 111
- Hispanic or Latino19.8% · 39
- Black or African American9.1% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 12
- Two or more races5.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.0% · 6
Popularity
Lycia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Lycia from the 1960s through to the 1990s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 40 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Lycia 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 Lycia 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 Lycia
The name Lycia has its roots in the ancient region of Lycia, located in what is now southern Turkey. The region was known for its rich culture and history, dating back to the 5th century BC. The name itself is believed to be derived from the Luwian language, an ancient Anatolian language closely related to Hittite.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Lycia can be found in ancient Greek literature. The Greek historian Herodotus, in his work "The Histories," mentions the Lycians as a fierce and skilled people known for their prowess in warfare. Additionally, the ancient Greek geographer Strabo wrote extensively about the Lycian region and its people in his work "Geographica."
In the realm of mythology, Lycia is associated with the figure of Bellerophon, a hero from Greek mythology who was said to have tamed the winged horse Pegasus and slain the Chimera, a monstrous fire-breathing creature. According to legend, Bellerophon ruled over Lycia for a time.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Lycia. One of the earliest was Lycia, a Roman noblewoman who lived during the 1st century AD and was known for her beauty and intelligence. Another notable Lycia was a Byzantine poet who lived in the 5th century AD and was renowned for her lyrical compositions.
In more recent times, Lycia de Rebholz (1844-1916) was a German-born American painter and sculptor known for her works depicting scenes from Native American life. Lycia Naff (1924-2005) was an American political scientist and author who wrote extensively on the Middle East and the Arab-Israeli conflict.
Another notable figure was Lycia Trouton (1924-2003), an English actress and stage director who had a successful career in both theater and television. She was particularly known for her performances in productions of Shakespeare's works.
Lycia Shausgroue (1946-present) is a contemporary American artist and sculptor whose work often explores themes of nature and the human form. Her sculptures and installations have been exhibited in galleries and museums around the world.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the name Lycia, a name with roots in the ancient Lycian region and a rich cultural heritage.
People
Lycia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Lycia 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
Lycia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Lycia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 61 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Lycia 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 5,618,924 US residents.
Is Lycia a common name?
We classify Lycia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 57.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 71 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Lycia most popular?
The single biggest year for Lycia was 1961, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Lycia is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Lycia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 197 people with the name Lycia, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,754 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 Lycia 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 Lycia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Lycia appears almost entirely female. Of the 186 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 Lycia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Lycia is White at 56.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.8%) and Black (9.1%). 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 Lycia most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Lycia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.3% (111 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 Lycia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Lycia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Lycia 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 Lycia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Lycia 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 Lycia 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 named Lycia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.