Pallas
A feminine given name derived from the epithet of the Greek goddess Athena, meaning "wise" or "skilled".
Name Census estimates that about 96 living Americans carry the first name Pallas. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pallas today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pallas births was 2015 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pallas. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Pallas. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
96
~ 1 in 3,570,358 Americans
Peak year
2015
11 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,081
Tracked since 1969
Popularity
Pallas: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pallas from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 36 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Pallas remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pallas 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 Pallas 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 Pallas
Pallas is a given name of Greek origin, derived from the ancient Greek word "Pallax" which meant "maiden" or "young woman". The name is closely associated with Pallas Athena, the Greek goddess of wisdom, courage, inspiration, civilization, law, justice, mathematics, strength, war strategy, the arts, and skill.
The earliest recorded use of the name Pallas dates back to ancient Greek mythology and literature. In Homer's Iliad, Pallas is an epithet used for the goddess Athena, referring to her as a warrior-maiden. The name is also found in other ancient Greek texts, such as Hesiod's Theogony and Aeschylus' Eumenides.
One of the most notable historical figures with the name Pallas was Pallas the Elder, a Roman scholar and philosopher who lived in the 1st century AD. He was a highly influential figure in the court of the Roman Emperor Claudius and is credited with helping to establish the first public library in Rome.
Another notable bearer of the name Pallas was Pallas the Younger, a Greek soothsayer and philosopher who lived in the 2nd century AD. He was a close advisor to the Roman Emperor Hadrian and is said to have influenced the emperor's policies and decisions.
In the 16th century, the name Pallas gained popularity among European nobility and aristocracy. One notable example is Pallas Athene, a 16th-century Dutch noblewoman and patron of the arts, who was known for her support of artists and intellectuals.
In the 18th century, the name Pallas was used by several scientists and astronomers. Pallas was the name given to one of the first four asteroids discovered, named after the Greek goddess Pallas Athena. The asteroid was discovered in 1802 by the German astronomer Heinrich Wilhelm Matthäus Olbers.
Another prominent figure with the name Pallas was Pallas Everett, an American botanist and explorer who lived in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. He is best known for his exploration of the American West and his contributions to the study of plant life in the region.
People
Pallas + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pallas as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with P
Other first names starting with P with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Pallas: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pallas?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 96 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pallas 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 3,570,358 US residents.
Is Pallas a common name?
We classify Pallas as "Very Rare". It ranks above 64% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 98 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pallas most popular?
The single biggest year for Pallas was 2015, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pallas is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pallas a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pallas 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.