Marixa
A feminine name of Spanish origin potentially meaning "little bitter one".
Name Census estimates that about 331 living Americans carry the first name Marixa. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Marixa today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Marixa births was 1999 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Marixa. 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.
People living today
331
~ 1 in 1,035,512 Americans
Peak year
1999
19 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2015 SSA rank
#18,186
Tracked since 1965
Census
Marixa in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 656 people with the first name Marixa, which placed it at #16,994 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
#16,994
National first-name rank
People counted
656
656 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
94.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Marixa
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marixa is Hispanic at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Marixa 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 Marixa at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino94.8% · 622
- White2.4% · 16
- Black or African American2.1% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Marixa: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Marixa from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 119 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
Marixa 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 Marixa during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Marixas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Marixa
The name Marixa has its origins in the ancient Iberian region, and is believed to have derived from a combination of the Basque words "mari" (meaning "lady" or "woman") and "uxo" (meaning "moon" or "lunar"). This suggests that the name may have originally been associated with deities or goddesses related to the moon or feminine power in pre-Roman cultures of the Iberian Peninsula.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Marixa can be traced back to the 6th century CE, where it appears in several inscriptions and artifacts found in the Basque Country region of present-day Spain and France. These early examples indicate that the name was in use among the Basque people during the medieval period.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Marixa was a Basque noblewoman and landowner who lived in the 11th century. Records from the time refer to her as "Marixa de Bizkaia," suggesting she held significant influence and property in the region of Biscay (Bizkaia).
In the 13th century, a Marixa de Navarra is mentioned in chronicles as a lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Navarre, indicating that the name had spread beyond the Basque region and was used among the nobility of neighboring kingdoms.
During the Renaissance period, a celebrated poet and playwright from the Basque Country, Marixa de Arizmendi (1522-1598), gained renown for her works in the Basque language and her contributions to the cultural revival of the region.
Another notable figure bearing the name was Marixa de Zubiaurre (1648-1721), a Basque merchant and explorer who is credited with establishing trade routes and settlements in the Americas, particularly in present-day Venezuela and Colombia.
While the name Marixa has its roots in the Basque culture and language, it has also been adopted and adapted in various forms in other regions, particularly in parts of Spain, Portugal, and Latin America, where it may have evolved into variations such as Marixa, Marisa, or Maritza.
People
Marixa + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Marixa as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Marixa: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Marixa?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 331 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Marixa 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 1,035,512 US residents.
Is Marixa a common name?
We classify Marixa as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 343 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Marixa most popular?
The single biggest year for Marixa was 1999, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Marixa is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Marixa in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 656 people with the name Marixa, or 0.22 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,994 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 Marixa 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 Marixa?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Marixa appears almost entirely female. Of the 657 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 Marixa?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Marixa is Hispanic at 94.8%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Black (2.1%). 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 Marixa most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Marixa in the 2020 Census, accounting for 94.8% (622 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 Marixa in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Marixa a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Marixa 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 Marixa still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Marixa 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 Marixa 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 Marixa?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.