Pandora
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "all-gifted" or "all-giving".
Name Census estimates that about 2,550 living Americans carry the first name Pandora. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pandora today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pandora births was 1952 (132 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pandora. 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
2.5K
~ 1 in 134,413 Americans
Peak year
1952
132 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,857
Tracked since 1912
Popularity
Pandora: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pandora from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 660 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pandora 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 Pandora during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pandoras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, New York, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Pandora, while West Virginia, Alabama, Arizona recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 43 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Pandora
The name Pandora originates from Greek mythology, deriving its roots from the ancient Greek words "pan" meaning "all" and "doron" meaning "gift" or "endowed with". It can be translated to mean "all-gifted" or "all-endowed". The earliest known reference to the name comes from the famous Greek myth of Pandora's box, which first appeared in Hesiod's Works and Days, an ancient didactic poem written around 700 BC.
In the Greek myth, Pandora was the first woman created by the gods, crafted out of earth to punish mankind for Prometheus' theft of fire. She was given a famous jar (mistranslated as "box" in later times) filled with all the world's miseries, evils, and plagues. Her curiosity led her to open the jar, unleashing these misfortunes upon humanity, leaving only hope behind.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Pandora was Pandora of Miletus, a Greek lyric poet who lived around 600 BC. She was renowned for her poetic works, though only fragments of her compositions survive today.
In the 5th century BC, Pandora was the name of a celebrated Athenian courtesan and companion of the poet Ariphrades. She was known for her wit, intelligence, and beauty, and was even depicted on ancient Greek vase paintings.
During the 3rd century BC, Pandora was the name of a Greek princess, daughter of the Spartan King Leonidas II. She married the Seleucid King Antiochus II, cementing an alliance between the two kingdoms.
In the 1st century AD, Pandora was the name of a Roman freedwoman who lived during the reign of Emperor Nero. She was a renowned actress and mime artist, praised for her performances in ancient Roman theaters.
In the 15th century, Pandora Malatesta was an Italian noblewoman and the ruler of Rimini, known for her patronage of the arts and her Renaissance court's cultural achievements.
People
Pandora + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pandora 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
Pandora: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pandora?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,550 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pandora 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 134,413 US residents.
Is Pandora a common name?
We classify Pandora as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,094 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pandora most popular?
The single biggest year for Pandora was 1952, when 132 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pandora is about 41 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Pandora a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pandora 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.