Natacha
Of Russian origin, the feminine name meaning "birthday celebration" or "Christmas."
Name Census estimates that about 1,282 living Americans carry the first name Natacha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Natacha today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natacha births was 1981 (61 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natacha. 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 Natacha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 267,359 Americans
Peak year
1981
61 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2016 SSA rank
#15,662
Tracked since 1957
Census
Natacha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,986 people with the first name Natacha, which placed it at #5,661 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
#5,661
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
2,986 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Natacha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natacha is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.9%) and White (15.2%). 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 Natacha 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 Natacha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American47.3% · 1,412
- Hispanic or Latino33.9% · 1,013
- White15.2% · 454
- Two or more races2.1% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 37
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 6
Popularity
Natacha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natacha from the 1950s through to the 2010s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 489 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Natacha 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 Natacha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natachas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. New York, Florida, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Natacha, while Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natacha
The name Natacha is a Russian diminutive form of the name Natalia, which is derived from the Latin name Natalis, meaning "relating to birth". It is believed to have originated in the late Middle Ages or early Renaissance period, likely around the 15th or 16th century.
Natalia was a popular name among Russian nobility and royalty, and it is thought that the diminutive form Natacha emerged as a more informal or affectionate variation of the name. The name quickly spread throughout Eastern Europe and parts of Western Europe, particularly in areas with strong cultural ties to Russia.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Natacha can be found in the works of Russian author Ivan Turgenev, who featured a character named Natacha in his novel "Fathers and Sons" published in 1862. This literary reference helped popularize the name further.
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Natacha. One of the most famous was Natacha Rambova (1897-1966), an American costume designer and art director who was married to renowned silent film actor Rudolph Valentino.
Another prominent figure was Natacha Merritt (1923-2021), a French classical singer and actress who performed with the Paris Opera and appeared in several films throughout the mid-20th century.
In the realm of literature, Natacha Appanah (born 1973) is a Mauritian-French author known for her novels exploring themes of identity and cultural displacement.
In the world of sports, Natacha Mikhaylova (born 1981) is a former Russian tennis player who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 19 in singles and won multiple titles on the WTA Tour.
Lastly, Natacha Ramound (born 1979) is a French actress and model who has appeared in several films and television shows, notably in the popular French series "Léa Parker".
While the name Natacha has roots in Russian culture, it has gained popularity globally and has been embraced by various cultures and languages, particularly in Europe and parts of the Americas.
People
Natacha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natacha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with N
Other first names starting with N with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Natacha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natacha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,282 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natacha 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 267,359 US residents.
Is Natacha a common name?
We classify Natacha as "Rare". It ranks above 91.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,376 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natacha most popular?
The single biggest year for Natacha was 1981, when 61 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natacha is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Natacha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,986 people with the name Natacha, or 0.99 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,661 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 Natacha 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 Natacha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Natacha appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,983 people counted with this name, 99.9% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Natacha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Natacha is Black at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (33.9%) and White (15.2%). 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 Natacha most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Natacha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (1,412 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 Natacha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Natacha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Natacha 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 Natacha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Natacha 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 Natacha 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 Natacha as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.