Myrtis
A feminine given name of Greek origin referring to the myrtle plant.
Name Census estimates that about 1,134 living Americans carry the first name Myrtis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Myrtis today is around 76 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Myrtis births was 1921 (216 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Myrtis. 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
- • The typical person named Myrtis is about 76 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Myrtis' were born before 1960.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 302,253 Americans
Peak year
1921
216 babies that year
Average age
76
years old
1926 SSA rank
#4,625
Tracked since 1882
Census
Myrtis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,513 people with the first name Myrtis, which placed it at #9,270 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
#9,270
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,513 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
56.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Myrtis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrtis is Black at 56.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Myrtis 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 Myrtis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American56.5% · 855
- White38.9% · 588
- Two or more races2.0% · 30
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 22
- Hispanic or Latino1.1% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Myrtis
Out of the 6,126 babies given the name Myrtis since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Myrtis as a male name
- Ranked #4,625 in 1926
- 5 male births in 1926
- Peak: 1926 (5 births)
Myrtis as a female name
- Ranked #12,582 in 1987
- 5 female births in 1987
- Peak: 1921 (216 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Myrtis leans strongly female. 1,455 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 56 male bearers (3.7%).
Popularity
Myrtis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Myrtis from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 1,617 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
Myrtis 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 Myrtis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Myrtis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Mississippi, Louisiana, Georgia recorded the most babies named Myrtis, while Virginia, Oklahoma, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 356 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Myrtis
The name Myrtis has its roots in Greek mythology and culture. It is derived from the ancient Greek word "myrtis," which means "myrtle." The myrtle plant held great significance in Greek mythology, often associated with the goddess Aphrodite and representing beauty, love, and fertility.
In ancient Greece, the name Myrtis was likely given to girls born under the auspicious sign of the myrtle plant. It was a name that carried symbolic meaning and was believed to bestow the qualities of grace and charm upon its bearer.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Myrtis can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who lived around 630-570 BCE. Sappho's poetry mentions a woman named Myrtis, suggesting that the name was in use during the archaic period of ancient Greece.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Myrtis. One such figure was Myrtis of Anthedon, a Greek woman who lived in the 3rd century BCE and was renowned for her skill in poetry and riddles. She is mentioned in the works of ancient authors like Athenaeus and Plutarch.
Another notable Myrtis was a Greek philosopher from the 4th century BCE, who was a student of Plato and a contemporary of Aristotle. She is believed to have written works on philosophy and ethics, although none of her writings have survived to the present day.
In the realm of literature, Myrtis Kleinbort (1872-1964) was a German-American writer and feminist activist who wrote several novels and short stories exploring themes of women's rights and social issues.
Moving to the modern era, Myrtis Dightman (1908-2005) was an American jazz singer and bandleader who rose to prominence during the Swing era of the 1930s and 1940s. She was known for her powerful vocals and her ability to captivate audiences with her performances.
Another notable figure was Myrtis Cain (1920-2014), an American politician and civil rights activist who served as a member of the Mississippi House of Representatives from 1964 to 1988. She played a significant role in the fight against segregation and racial discrimination in her home state.
While the name Myrtis may not be as widely used today as it was in ancient times, it remains a beautiful and meaningful name with a rich historical legacy rooted in Greek mythology and culture.
People
Myrtis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Myrtis 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
Myrtis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Myrtis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,134 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Myrtis 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 302,253 US residents.
Is Myrtis a common name?
We classify Myrtis as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 6,126 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Myrtis most popular?
The single biggest year for Myrtis was 1921, when 216 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Myrtis is about 76 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Myrtis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,513 people with the name Myrtis, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,270 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 Myrtis 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 Myrtis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Myrtis leans strongly female. 1,455 people counted with this name were female (96.3%), compared with 56 male bearers (3.7%). 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 Myrtis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Myrtis is Black at 56.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.9%) and Two or More Races (2.0%). 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 Myrtis most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Myrtis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.5% (855 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 Myrtis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Myrtis a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Myrtis 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 Myrtis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Myrtis 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 Myrtis 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 are named Myrtis?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.