Metzli
An indigenous Nahuatl name meaning moon or lunar.
Name Census estimates that about 437 living Americans carry the first name Metzli. It is a predominantly female name (98.6% of registrations). The average person named Metzli today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Metzli births was 2023 (44 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Metzli. 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
437
~ 1 in 784,335 Americans
Peak year
2023
44 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2022 SSA rank
#3,786
Tracked since 1996
Census
Metzli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 264 people with the first name Metzli, which placed it at #32,084 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
#32,084
National first-name rank
People counted
264
264 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Metzli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Metzli is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Metzli 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 Metzli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.2% · 254
- White2.3% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 2
- Black or African American0.4% · 1
- Two or more races0.4% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Metzli
Metzli leans heavily female at 98.6% of total registrations, but 6 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Metzli as a male name
- Ranked #11,807 in 2022
- 6 male births in 2022
- Peak: 2022 (6 births)
Metzli as a female name
- Ranked #3,786 in 2024
- 40 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (44 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Metzli leans strongly female. 255 people counted with this name were female (95.1%), compared with 13 male bearers (4.9%).
Popularity
Metzli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Metzli from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 177 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Metzli 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 Metzli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Metzlis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Metzli, while Illinois, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 68 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Metzli
The name Metzli originates from the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztecs and other indigenous groups in what is now central Mexico. It dates back to the 14th century CE and earlier. The word metzli means "moon" in Nahuatl, and it was often used as a name for girls born under a full moon or associated with lunar deities.
In Aztec mythology, Metzli was the name of the moon goddess, wife of the sun god Tonatiuh. She was revered as a symbol of fertility, femininity, and the cycles of life. The Aztecs had a lunar calendar and celebrated various moon-related festivals and rituals, highlighting the cultural significance of the name.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Metzli appears in the 16th-century codices and manuscripts compiled by Spanish chroniclers documenting Aztec history and culture. For example, the Codex Mendoza, created around 1542, mentions a woman named Metzli who was a noble in the court of the Aztec ruler Moctezuma II.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Metzli. One example is Metzli Tzompaxochitzin (1520-1586), a noble woman from Tenochtitlan who played a crucial role in preserving Nahuatl literature and indigenous traditions during the Spanish conquest of Mexico.
Another prominent figure was Metzli Tlamani (1885-1968), a Mexican artist and teacher known for her paintings depicting indigenous themes and her advocacy for preserving traditional arts and crafts.
In the realm of literature, Metzli Calderon (1918-2003) was a Mexican writer and poet whose works explored themes of identity, feminism, and social justice.
Metzli Gonzalez (1933-2019) was a pioneering Mexican archaeologist who made significant contributions to the study of the Olmec civilization and the pre-Hispanic cultures of Mesoamerica.
More recently, Metzli Hernandez (born 1995) is a Mexican-American actress known for her roles in television shows and films, including the series "Monarca" and the movie "Narcos: Mexico."
While the name Metzli has its roots in ancient Mesoamerican cultures, it continues to be used today, carrying on the legacy of its lunar and mythological associations.
People
Metzli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Metzli 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
Metzli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Metzli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 437 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Metzli 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 784,335 US residents.
Is Metzli a common name?
We classify Metzli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 441 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Metzli most popular?
The single biggest year for Metzli was 2023, when 44 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Metzli is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Metzli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 264 people with the name Metzli, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,084 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 Metzli 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 Metzli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Metzli leans strongly female. 255 people counted with this name were female (95.1%), compared with 13 male bearers (4.9%). 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 Metzli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Metzli is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (0.8%). 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 Metzli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Metzli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (254 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 Metzli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Metzli a female name?
Yes, 98.6% of people registered as Metzli 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 Metzli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Metzli 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 Metzli 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 the name Metzli?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Metzli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.