Ortencia
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "from the garden or orchard".
Name Census estimates that about 160 living Americans carry the first name Ortencia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ortencia today is around 62 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ortencia births was 1949 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ortencia. 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.
People living today
160
~ 1 in 2,142,215 Americans
Peak year
1949
11 babies that year
Average age
62
years old
1993 SSA rank
#11,431
Tracked since 1919
Census
Ortencia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,045 people with the first name Ortencia, which placed it at #12,050 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
#12,050
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,045 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ortencia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ortencia is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Ortencia 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 Ortencia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.3% · 1,006
- White1.1% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
- Black or African American0.5% · 5
- Two or more races0.2% · 2
Popularity
Ortencia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ortencia from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 58 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ortencia 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 Ortencia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ortencias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ortencia
The name Ortencia has its roots in the Latin word "hortus," meaning garden. It is believed to have originated in medieval Italy, where it was likely used as a feminine form of the name Hortensio or Hortensius, which were derived from the same Latin root word.
In the 13th century, the name Ortencia was mentioned in various Italian records and documents, suggesting its use during that time period. One of the earliest known bearers of this name was Ortencia di Firenze, a noblewoman who lived in Florence, Italy, in the late 1200s.
As the name gained popularity across Europe, it underwent slight variations in spelling and pronunciation. In France, it was adapted as Hortense, while in Spain, it took the form of Hortensia.
One of the most notable historical figures with this name was Hortense de Beauharnais, the daughter of Josephine Bonaparte and the stepdaughter of Napoleon I. She was born in 1783 and served as Queen of Holland from 1806 to 1810.
In literature, the name Ortencia appeared in the works of Italian poet and playwright Ludovico Ariosto, who lived from 1474 to 1533. One of his characters, a young woman, was named Ortencia.
Another notable bearer of this name was Ortencia Allende, a Chilean writer and activist who lived from 1914 to 2002. She was a prominent figure in the struggle for women's rights and social justice in her country.
In the realm of art, Ortencia Scotti was an Italian opera singer who performed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Born in 1858, she was renowned for her roles in various operas, particularly those of Verdi and Puccini.
Ortencia Ruffo, an Italian actress and filmmaker, was also a significant figure in the early days of Italian cinema. She was born in 1888 and starred in several notable films during the silent era.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Ortencia, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Ortencia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ortencia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with O
Other first names starting with O with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ortencia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ortencia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 160 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ortencia 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 2,142,215 US residents.
Is Ortencia a common name?
We classify Ortencia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 316 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ortencia most popular?
The single biggest year for Ortencia was 1949, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ortencia is about 62 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ortencia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,045 people with the name Ortencia, or 0.35 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,050 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 Ortencia 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 Ortencia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ortencia appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,036 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Ortencia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ortencia is Hispanic at 96.3%. The next largest groups are White (1.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.1%). 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 Ortencia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ortencia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.3% (1,006 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 Ortencia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ortencia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ortencia 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 Ortencia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ortencia 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 Ortencia 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 Ortencia?
If you just want to know how many people have the name Ortencia, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.