Mima
A feminine name with debated origins, potentially related to the Greek word "mimos" meaning "actor".
Name Census estimates that about 123 living Americans carry the first name Mima. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Mima today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Mima births was 1935 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Mima. 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 Mima with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
123
~ 1 in 2,786,621 Americans
Peak year
1935
25 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2022 SSA rank
#13,142
Tracked since 1880
Census
Mima in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 378 people with the first name Mima, which placed it at #25,170 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
#25,170
National first-name rank
People counted
378
378 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Mima
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mima is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.4%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Mima 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 Mima at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.4% · 251
- Hispanic or Latino12.4% · 47
- Black or African American9.8% · 37
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 28
- Two or more races4.0% · 15
Popularity
Mima: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Mima from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 114 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Mima 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 Mima during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Mimas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Mima
The given name Mima has its origins traced back to Ancient Greece, where it was derived from the Greek word "mimesis," which means "imitation" or "mimicry." In Greek mythology, Mimesis was the goddess of imitation and mockery, often associated with the art of acting and mimicry in theatrical performances.
During the Classical period in Greece, the name Mima was used as a feminine form of the masculine name Mimos, which also had connections to the concept of mimicry and imitation in the performing arts. It is believed that the name was given to girls who showed a talent for mimicry or had a flair for the dramatic arts.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Mima can be found in the works of the ancient Greek playwright Menander, who lived from 342 BCE to 292 BCE. In his comedies, Menander included characters bearing the name Mima, reflecting the cultural significance of the name during that era.
Throughout the centuries, the name Mima has been used across various cultures, although its popularity has waxed and waned. In the Middle Ages, the name gained some traction in parts of Europe, particularly in regions influenced by Greek culture and language.
One notable historical figure bearing the name Mima was Mima di Bascio, an Italian painter who lived during the 14th century. She was renowned for her religious artwork and is considered one of the earliest known female artists in the Italian Renaissance period.
In the 16th century, Mima Marmara, a Venetian noblewoman, gained recognition for her patronage of the arts and her support of artists and intellectuals during the height of the Venetian Renaissance.
During the 19th century, Mima Maxim was a Russian writer and activist who advocated for women's rights and education. She was born in 1835 and played a significant role in the Russian literary and intellectual circles of her time.
In the world of music, Mima Sijerčić was a renowned Serbian opera singer who lived from 1926 to 2020. She performed on some of the most prestigious opera stages around the world and was celebrated for her powerful and expressive voice.
Another notable figure with the name Mima was Mima Yoko, a Japanese feminist and social activist who campaigned for women's rights and gender equality in the early 20th century. She was born in 1879 and her efforts paved the way for greater recognition of women's issues in Japanese society.
People
Mima + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Mima 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
Mima: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Mima?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 123 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Mima 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 2,786,621 US residents.
Is Mima a common name?
We classify Mima as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 737 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Mima most popular?
The single biggest year for Mima was 1935, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Mima is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Mima in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 378 people with the name Mima, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #25,170 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 Mima 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 Mima?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Mima leans strongly female. 373 people counted with this name were female (97.9%), compared with 8 male bearers (2.1%). 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 Mima?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Mima is White at 66.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.4%) and Black (9.8%). 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 Mima most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Mima in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.4% (251 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 Mima in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Mima a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Mima 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 Mima still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Mima 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 Mima 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 Mima?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.