Ourania
Of Greek origin, meaning "heavenly" or "celestial".
Name Census estimates that about 103 living Americans carry the first name Ourania. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ourania today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ourania births was 1976 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ourania. 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
103
~ 1 in 3,327,712 Americans
Peak year
1976
12 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2016 SSA rank
#15,755
Tracked since 1963
Census
Ourania in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 390 people with the first name Ourania, which placed it at #24,620 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
#24,620
National first-name rank
People counted
390
390 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ourania
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ourania is White at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Ourania 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 Ourania at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White97.7% · 381
- Black or African American1.0% · 4
- Two or more races0.8% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.5% · 2
Popularity
Ourania: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ourania from the 1960s through to the 2010s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 53 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1970s peak, Ourania remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ourania 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 Ourania during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ourania
The name Ourania has its origins in Ancient Greek, derived from the word "ouranos", meaning "heaven" or "sky". It is the feminine form of the name Ouranos, who in Greek mythology was the personification of the sky and one of the primordial deities. Ourania was used as an epithet for the Greek goddess Aphrodite, referring to her celestial aspect and identification with the planet Venus.
In ancient times, Ourania was associated with the study of celestial bodies and astronomy. The name appears in various philosophical and literary works of the classical Greek era, including the writings of Plato and Aristotle.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ourania was Ourania of Thebes, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived around the 4th century BCE. She is known for her contributions to the field of geometry and for being one of the few female intellectuals of her time.
In the Byzantine era, Ourania was a relatively common name among the Greek-speaking population. One notable figure was Ourania Palaiologina, a Byzantine princess who lived in the 14th century and was the daughter of the Emperor Michael VIII Palaiologos.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ourania gained popularity in Italy and other parts of Europe, reflecting a renewed interest in classical Greek culture. One of the most famous individuals with the name was Ourania Camilla Guerrini, an Italian poet and playwright who lived in the 16th century and was celebrated for her literary works.
In the 19th century, Ourania was used by several notable figures in the arts and sciences. Ourania Michaelides was a Greek painter and sculptor active in the late 19th century, known for her portraits and mythological scenes. Ourania Rallis was a Greek astronomer and mathematician who made significant contributions to the study of celestial mechanics and orbits.
Another notable individual with the name Ourania was Ourania Kazantzakis, a Greek writer and the wife of the famous novelist Nikos Kazantzakis. She was born in 1900 and played an important role in preserving and promoting her husband's literary legacy after his death.
Throughout history, the name Ourania has been associated with celestial themes, astronomy, and the pursuit of knowledge, reflecting its ancient Greek origins and connections to the heavens.
People
Ourania + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ourania 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
Ourania: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ourania?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 103 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ourania 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 3,327,712 US residents.
Is Ourania a common name?
We classify Ourania as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 112 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ourania most popular?
The single biggest year for Ourania was 1976, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ourania is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ourania in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 390 people with the name Ourania, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,620 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 Ourania 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 Ourania?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ourania appears almost entirely female. Of the 388 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Ourania?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ourania is White at 97.7%. The next largest groups are Black (1.0%) and Two or More Races (0.8%). 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 Ourania most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ourania in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (381 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 Ourania in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ourania a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ourania 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 Ourania still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ourania 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 Ourania 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 common is the name Ourania?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Ourania on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.