Melicia
Feminine variant of the masculine name Melicio derived from Latin "mel" meaning honey.
Name Census estimates that about 191 living Americans carry the first name Melicia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Melicia today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Melicia births was 1988 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Melicia. 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
191
~ 1 in 1,794,525 Americans
Peak year
1988
11 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2008 SSA rank
#16,793
Tracked since 1958
Census
Melicia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 371 people with the first name Melicia, which placed it at #25,534 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
#25,534
National first-name rank
People counted
371
371 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Melicia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melicia is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Melicia 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 Melicia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.7% · 188
- White19.9% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino17.0% · 63
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.7% · 25
- Two or more races4.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 5
Popularity
Melicia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Melicia from the 1950s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 51 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Melicia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Melicia 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 Melicia 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 Melicia
The name Melicia has its roots in the Latin language and can be traced back to ancient Roman times. It is a feminine form of the name Melicius, which derives from the Latin word "melior," meaning "better" or "superior." The name Melicia was likely given to girls born into noble or aristocratic families, reflecting the hope that they would live up to their family's distinguished status.
One of the earliest known bearers of the name Melicia was a Roman noblewoman who lived in the 2nd century AD. She was the daughter of a prominent senator and was known for her philanthropic endeavors, particularly her support for orphanages and educational initiatives for underprivileged children.
In the Middle Ages, the name Melicia appeared in various European regions, including Italy, France, and Spain. During this time, it was often associated with women of noble birth or those who had achieved notable accomplishments. For instance, Melicia de Montferrat (1135-1179) was a renowned crusader who participated in the Second Crusade and became a respected military leader.
In the Renaissance period, the name Melicia gained popularity among the wealthy and cultured classes of Europe. One notable figure was Melicia Barzizza (1490-1560), an Italian humanist scholar and poet who was highly regarded for her contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of her time.
Moving into the 17th and 18th centuries, the name Melicia was adopted by several prominent women in various fields. Melicia Stead (1642-1714) was an English botanist and one of the earliest female members of the Royal Society, recognized for her contributions to the study of plants and their medicinal properties.
In the 19th century, Melicia Puig (1825-1892) was a Spanish author and feminist activist who fought for women's rights and advocated for educational opportunities for girls. Her novels and essays helped raise awareness about the struggles faced by women in her time.
While the name Melicia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has been borne by notable individuals across various cultures and eras, reflecting a sense of distinction, achievement, and a commitment to bettering society.
People
Melicia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Melicia 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
Melicia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Melicia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 191 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Melicia 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 1,794,525 US residents.
Is Melicia a common name?
We classify Melicia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 73.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 210 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Melicia most popular?
The single biggest year for Melicia was 1988, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Melicia is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Melicia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 371 people with the name Melicia, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,534 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 Melicia 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 Melicia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Melicia appears almost entirely female. Of the 361 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Melicia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Melicia is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (19.9%) and Hispanic (17.0%). 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 Melicia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Melicia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (188 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 Melicia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Melicia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Melicia 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 Melicia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Melicia 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 Melicia 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 Melicia?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.