Natividad
Of Spanish origin, meaning "nativity" or "birth".
Name Census estimates that about 1,954 living Americans carry the first name Natividad. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 52.9% of registrations being female. The average person named Natividad today is around 51 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Natividad births was 1928 (84 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Natividad. 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
- • Natividad sits in rare territory as a truly gender-neutral name, given to boys and girls in near-equal numbers.
People living today
2.0K
~ 1 in 175,412 Americans
Peak year
1928
84 babies that year
Average age
51
years old
2014 SSA rank
#8,594
Tracked since 1895
Gender
Gender distribution for Natividad
Natividad is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 3,653 total registrations, 1,722 (47.1%) were male and 1,931 (52.9%) were female.
Natividad as a male name
- Ranked #8,594 in 2014
- 9 male births in 2014
- Peak: 1928 (43 births)
Natividad as a female name
- Ranked #17,029 in 2022
- 5 female births in 2022
- Peak: 1925 (41 births)
Popularity
Natividad: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Natividad from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 631 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
Natividad 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 Natividad during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Natividads live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Natividad, while Arizona, New Mexico, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 425 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Natividad
The given name Natividad is of Spanish origin and is derived from the Latin word "nativitas", which means "birth" or "nativity". It is a feminine name that is closely associated with the Christmas season, as it refers to the birth of Jesus Christ.
The name Natividad has been in use since the Middle Ages, particularly in Catholic regions of Spain and Latin America. It gained popularity as a name for girls born around Christmas time, as it was seen as a way to honor the Nativity of Christ. The name was often given to babies born on or near December 25th.
In Christian tradition, the Nativity of Jesus is a central event celebrated during the Christmas season. It is described in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, which recount the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem. The name Natividad serves as a direct reference to this event, and its use as a given name reflects the importance of the Nativity in Christian culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Natividad can be found in the 14th century, when it was used by Spanish nobility. Natividad de Aragón, born in 1384, was a Spanish noblewoman and the daughter of King Juan I of Aragon and his wife, Violante de Bar.
Other notable individuals who bore the name Natividad include Natividad Zacarias, a 17th-century Mexican nun and writer; Natividad Yarza, a 19th-century Spanish painter; and Natividad Álvarez Chacón, a 20th-century Mexican politician and women's rights activist.
In literature, the name Natividad appears in several works, including Gabriel García Márquez's novel "One Hundred Years of Solitude", where it is the name of a character. It is also the name of a character in the play "La Natividad" by Mexican playwright Salvador Novo.
While the name Natividad has been more commonly used in Spanish-speaking regions, it has also been adopted in other cultures and languages. For example, in the Philippines, where Catholic traditions have been deeply ingrained, the name Natividad has been in use for centuries.
People
Natividad + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Natividad 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
Natividad: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Natividad?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,954 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Natividad 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 175,412 US residents.
Is Natividad a common name?
We classify Natividad as "Rare". It ranks above 93.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,653 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Natividad most popular?
The single biggest year for Natividad was 1928, when 84 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Natividad is about 51 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Natividad a female name?
Yes, 52.9% of people registered as Natividad 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.