Massiel
A feminine name of Arabic origin meaning "walking among flowers".
Name Census estimates that about 765 living Americans carry the first name Massiel. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Massiel today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Massiel births was 1986 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Massiel. 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
765
~ 1 in 448,045 Americans
Peak year
1986
41 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,106
Tracked since 1970
Census
Massiel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,865 people with the first name Massiel, which placed it at #7,922 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
#7,922
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,865 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Massiel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Massiel is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Massiel 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 Massiel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.5% · 1,818
- White1.8% · 34
- Black or African American0.5% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Massiel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Massiel from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 247 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
Massiel 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 Massiel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Massiels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. New York, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Massiel, while Texas, New Jersey, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 66 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Massiel
Massiel is a given name of Spanish origin, derived from the Hebrew name Masih, meaning "anointed one" or "messiah." The name's roots can be traced back to ancient Judaic traditions and biblical texts.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Massiel date back to the Middle Ages in Spain, where it was used among Jewish communities. It is believed to have gained popularity during the Spanish Inquisition when Jewish families converted to Christianity but retained their traditional names with slight modifications.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Massiel was Massiel Ben Abraham, a 13th-century Jewish philosopher and scholar from Cordoba, Spain. He was renowned for his contributions to the fields of metaphysics and theology.
In the 16th century, Massiel de Villaroel was a Spanish noblewoman and patron of the arts, known for her support of renaissance painters and writers. Her patronage played a significant role in the cultural renaissance of Spain during that period.
During the 17th century, Massiel Gómez was a prominent Spanish poet and playwright. Her works, which explored themes of love, loss, and the human condition, were widely acclaimed and influential in her time.
In the 19th century, Massiel Muñoz was a Spanish artist and activist who championed women's rights and education. Her paintings, depicting the struggles and resilience of women, were celebrated for their powerful imagery and social commentary.
In more recent history, Massiel Rebolledo Navas, born in 1947, is a Spanish singer and actress who won the Eurovision Song Contest in 1968, representing Spain. Her victory with the song "La, La, La" made her an international sensation and contributed to the name's popularity in the latter half of the 20th century.
People
Massiel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Massiel 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
Massiel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Massiel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Massiel 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 448,045 US residents.
Is Massiel a common name?
We classify Massiel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 797 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Massiel most popular?
The single biggest year for Massiel was 1986, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Massiel 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 Massiel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,865 people with the name Massiel, or 0.62 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,922 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 Massiel 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 Massiel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Massiel leans strongly female. 1,831 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 33 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Massiel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Massiel is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.8%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Massiel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Massiel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (1,818 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 Massiel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Massiel a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Massiel 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 Massiel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Massiel 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 Massiel 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 Massiel?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.