Minha
A feminine name derived from the Portuguese possessive pronoun meaning "mine".
Name Census estimates that about 770 living Americans carry the first name Minha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Minha today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Minha births was 2024 (110 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Minha. 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 Minha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
770
~ 1 in 445,136 Americans
Peak year
2024
110 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,830
Tracked since 1997
Census
Minha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 455 people with the first name Minha, which placed it at #22,044 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
#22,044
National first-name rank
People counted
455
455 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
90.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Minha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Minha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Black (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Minha 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 Minha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander90.3% · 411
- Black or African American2.6% · 12
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 12
- Two or more races2.2% · 10
- White2.0% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 1
Popularity
Minha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Minha 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 437 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
Minha 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 Minha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Minhas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. New York, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Minha, while Minnesota, Virginia, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 39 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Minha
The name Minha is of Portuguese origin, derived from the Portuguese word "minha," which means "mine" or "my." It is believed to have first emerged as a given name in the late medieval period or early Renaissance era in Portugal.
In the early days, Minha was likely used as a term of endearment or possessive pronoun, similar to how names like "Mia" or "Mija" were formed from words meaning "mine" in other Romance languages. As a given name, it may have been bestowed upon a child to signify a sense of possession or deep affection.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Minha as a given name dates back to the 15th century, when a Portuguese noblewoman named Minha Rodrigues de Vasconcelos was mentioned in historical records from the reign of King Afonso V of Portugal (1432-1481).
Another notable bearer of the name Minha was Minha de Mendanha, a Portuguese writer and poet who lived in the 16th century. Her works, which included poetry and religious texts, were influential during the Portuguese Renaissance.
In the 17th century, Minha Soares de Albergaria, a prominent figure in Portuguese society, was known for her philanthropic efforts and support of various charitable causes.
During the 18th century, Minha Maria de Sá, a Portuguese aristocrat and landowner, played a significant role in the development of agriculture and viticulture in her region.
In more recent times, Minha Ribeiro, a Brazilian actress and television personality born in 1952, has gained widespread recognition for her work in telenovelas and films.
While the name Minha has its roots in Portuguese culture, it has also been adopted by various other cultures and communities around the world, particularly those with Portuguese influences or connections. However, its usage has remained relatively uncommon compared to other popular names.
People
Minha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Minha 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
Minha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Minha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 770 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Minha 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 445,136 US residents.
Is Minha a common name?
We classify Minha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 776 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Minha most popular?
The single biggest year for Minha was 2024, when 110 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Minha is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Minha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 455 people with the name Minha, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,044 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 Minha 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 Minha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Minha leans strongly female. 429 people counted with this name were female (95.3%), compared with 21 male bearers (4.7%). 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 Minha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Minha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 90.3%. The next largest groups are Black (2.6%) and Hispanic (2.6%). 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 Minha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Minha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.3% (411 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 Minha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Minha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Minha 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 Minha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Minha 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 Minha 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 Americans are named Minha?
See how many Americans are named Minha on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.