Noelia
A feminine name originating from Spanish and meaning "Christmas day".
Name Census estimates that about 7,080 living Americans carry the first name Noelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Noelia today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Noelia births was 2006 (340 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Noelia. 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 Noelia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
7.1K
~ 1 in 48,412 Americans
Peak year
2006
340 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,466
Tracked since 1934
Census
Noelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,090 people with the first name Noelia, which placed it at #2,454 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
#2,454
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,090 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Noelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noelia is Hispanic at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Noelia 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 Noelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.7% · 9,654
- White3.4% · 339
- Black or African American0.5% · 49
- Two or more races0.2% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 11
Popularity
Noelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Noelia from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 2,791 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Noelia 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 Noelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Noelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Noelia, while Maryland, Iowa, Connecticut recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 199 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Noelia
The name Noelia has its origins in the Spanish language, derived from the Latin name Noelius, which was a masculine name. The Latin name Noelius is believed to have been derived from the Latin word "noela," meaning "new" or "young." The name was predominantly used in Spain and other Spanish-speaking regions during the Middle Ages.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Noelia can be found in the 13th-century Spanish literary work, "Cantar de Mio Cid," where a character named Noelia is mentioned. However, it is important to note that this was likely a masculine name at the time.
The transition of Noelia from a masculine name to a feminine name is believed to have occurred during the Renaissance period, around the 15th or 16th century. As the name became more popular among women, it also began to appear in various historical records and literary works of that era.
One of the earliest known historical figures with the name Noelia was Noelia de Rojas (1450-1522), a Spanish noblewoman and writer who was known for her poetry and prose works. Another notable figure was Noelia Camacho (1620-1685), a Spanish painter who gained recognition for her religious paintings and portraits.
In the 19th century, the name gained further popularity, with several notable individuals bearing the name Noelia. One such person was Noelia Afán de Rivera (1822-1892), a Spanish writer and feminist activist who campaigned for women's rights and education in Spain.
Other historical figures with the name Noelia include Noelia Cortés (1875-1948), a Mexican painter and educator known for her contributions to the development of art education in Mexico, and Noelia Berumen (1906-1988), a Mexican actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during the Golden Age of Mexican cinema.
It is important to note that while the name Noelia has its roots in the Spanish language and culture, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in Latin American countries and among Hispanic communities in various regions.
People
Noelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Noelia 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
Noelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Noelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7,080 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Noelia 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 48,412 US residents.
Is Noelia a common name?
We classify Noelia as "Rare". It ranks above 97.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7,497 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Noelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Noelia was 2006, when 340 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Noelia is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Noelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,090 people with the name Noelia, or 3.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,454 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 Noelia 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 Noelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Noelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,088 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 Noelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Noelia is Hispanic at 95.7%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Noelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Noelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.7% (9,654 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 Noelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Noelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Noelia 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 Noelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Noelia 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 Noelia 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 called Noelia?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.