Nona
A feminine name of American origin referring to the ninth-born child.
Name Census estimates that about 5,473 living Americans carry the first name Nona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Nona today is around 64 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Nona births was 1950 (360 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Nona. 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 Nona with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
5.5K
~ 1 in 62,626 Americans
Peak year
1950
360 babies that year
Average age
64
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,476
Tracked since 1880
Census
Nona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,599 people with the first name Nona, which placed it at #2,961 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
#2,961
National first-name rank
People counted
7.6K
7,599 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Nona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nona is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). 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 Nona 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 Nona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.0% · 5,779
- Black or African American11.9% · 904
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.1% · 312
- Two or more races3.4% · 261
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 231
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 112
Popularity
Nona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Nona from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 2,681 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Nona 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 Nona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Nonas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 40 states and territories. Texas, California, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Nona, while Massachusetts, New Mexico, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 253 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Nona
The name Nona has its roots in the Latin language, originating from the word "nonus" which means "ninth." It was commonly used as a diminutive form of names like Petronilla, Ermengonda, or Raimonda, signifying the ninth child born to a family.
In ancient Rome, Nona was also the name of the Roman goddess of pregnancy and childbirth, who was worshipped on the ninth day after the Kalends, the first day of the Roman month. This connection to the goddess likely contributed to the name's popularity and meaning of fertility and new beginnings.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Nona dates back to the 6th century, when a Benedictine nun named Nona of Ypres lived in modern-day Belgium. She is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church, and her feast day is celebrated on November 6th.
In the 12th century, Nona de Villehardouin, a French noblewoman and participant in the Fourth Crusade, was among the notable individuals bearing this name. She is known for her memoir, which provides valuable historical insights into the Crusades and the siege of Constantinople.
Another notable figure was Nona Gandish, a 13th-century Mingrelian princess and military leader from modern-day Georgia, who played a crucial role in defending her homeland against the Mongol invasions.
In the 16th century, Nona Henrietta Sibylla of Württemberg (1583-1663), a German princess and abbess, wielded significant influence in the religious and political affairs of her time.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Nona Hendryx (born 1944) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer, best known as a member of the pioneering funk rock band Labelle.
While the name Nona has been primarily associated with various European cultures and languages, it has also found its way into other parts of the world, often with slightly different spellings or meanings. However, the core essence of the name, rooted in its Latin origins, remains a testament to its enduring legacy and cultural significance.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Nona
People
Nona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Nona 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
Nona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Nona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,473 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Nona 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 62,626 US residents.
Is Nona a common name?
We classify Nona as "Rare". It ranks above 96.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 16,696 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Nona most popular?
The single biggest year for Nona was 1950, when 360 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Nona is about 64 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Nona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,599 people with the name Nona, or 2.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,961 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 Nona 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 Nona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Nona appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,601 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Nona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Nona is White at 76.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.1%). 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 Nona most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Nona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.0% (5,779 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 Nona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Nona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Nona 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 Nona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Nona 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 Nona 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 the name Nona?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.