Minnie
A diminutive of the names Minerva, Wilhelmina, or Araminta.
Name Census estimates that about 17,874 living Americans carry the first name Minnie. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Minnie today is around 74 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Minnie births was 1919 (3,288 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Minnie. 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.
Key insights
- • Although Minnie is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 787 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • The typical person named Minnie is about 74 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Minnies were born before 1962.
- • Compared to the 1910s, recent registration numbers for Minnie have dropped to less than 5% of what they once were.
People living today
18K
~ 1 in 19,176 Americans
Peak year
1919
3,288 babies that year
Average age
74
years old
1959 SSA rank
#2,758
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Minnie
Out of the 160,011 babies given the name Minnie since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Minnie as a male name
- Ranked #4,375 in 1959
- 5 male births in 1959
- Peak: 1925 (21 births)
Minnie as a female name
- Ranked #2,758 in 2024
- 62 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1916 (3,274 births)
Popularity
Minnie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Minnie from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 27,588 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Minnie 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 Minnie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Minnies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. Alabama, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Minnie, while Nevada, Wyoming, Vermont recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,752 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Minnie
The name Minnie is a diminutive form of the name Minerva, which derives from the Roman goddess of wisdom and war. The name Minerva itself stems from an ancient Etruscan root meaning "mind" or "intellect". The first recorded use of the name Minnie dates back to the late 18th century, when it emerged as a nickname for Minerva in English-speaking regions.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Minnie was Minnie Caroline Austen, born in 1805. She was the niece of the renowned English novelist Jane Austen. Another notable figure was Minnie Ries, an American educator and philanthropist born in 1847. She helped establish the Chicago Kindergarten Club and worked to promote early childhood education.
In the world of literature, Minnie Maddern Fiske, born in 1865, was a celebrated American actress and playwright. She was known for her performances in plays by Shakespeare and other classical works. Minnie Cox, born in 1869, was a British trade unionist and suffragette who campaigned for women's rights and better working conditions.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Minnie was Minnie Buckingham Harper, born in 1886. She was a prominent African American educator, author, and activist who advocated for racial equality and women's rights. Her memoir, "Irons in the Fire," documented her experiences and struggles as a black woman in the early 20th century.
Throughout history, the name Minnie has been associated with strength, intelligence, and a pioneering spirit. While its origins can be traced back to ancient Roman mythology, the name has taken on a life of its own, carried by remarkable individuals who have left their mark on various fields, from education and literature to activism and social reform.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Minnie
People
Minnie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Minnie 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
Minnie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Minnie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 17,874 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Minnie 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 19,176 US residents.
Is Minnie a common name?
We classify Minnie as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 160,011 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Minnie most popular?
The single biggest year for Minnie was 1919, when 3,288 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Minnie is about 74 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Minnie a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Minnie 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.
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.