Parthenia
Of Greek origin, meaning "virgin" or "maiden".
Name Census estimates that about 504 living Americans carry the first name Parthenia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Parthenia today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Parthenia births was 1923 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Parthenia. 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
504
~ 1 in 680,068 Americans
Peak year
1923
28 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2024 SSA rank
#17,030
Tracked since 1880
Census
Parthenia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 566 people with the first name Parthenia, which placed it at #18,900 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
#18,900
National first-name rank
People counted
566
566 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Parthenia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parthenia is Black at 66.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Parthenia 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 Parthenia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.3% · 375
- White28.8% · 163
- Two or more races3.2% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino0.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 1
Popularity
Parthenia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Parthenia from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 14 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 198 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Parthenia 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 Parthenia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Parthenias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. North Carolina, Tennessee, Virginia recorded the most babies named Parthenia, while Mississippi, Alabama, Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 17 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Parthenia
The name Parthenia is of Greek origin, derived from the word "parthenos," meaning "virgin" or "maiden." Its roots can be traced back to ancient Greek mythology and culture, where it was associated with purity, innocence, and virginity.
Parthenia was a relatively uncommon name in ancient Greece, but it gained some popularity during the Byzantine era, particularly among Christian communities. It was often bestowed upon young women who had dedicated their lives to religious service or had taken vows of chastity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Parthenia can be found in the writings of the 4th-century Christian scholar and historian, Eusebius of Caesarea. He mentions a woman named Parthenia who was martyred for her faith during the Diocletian persecutions in the early 4th century.
Parthenia was also the name of a 5th-century saint from Constantinople, who is celebrated in the Eastern Orthodox Church for her piety and devotion. She is said to have been a nun who lived an ascetic life and performed miracles during her lifetime.
In the Middle Ages, the name Parthenia was occasionally used by members of the Byzantine aristocracy and nobility. A notable example is Parthenia Melissene, a 12th-century Byzantine noblewoman and the wife of the Emperor Andronikos I Komnenos.
During the Renaissance period, the name Parthenia resurfaced in literature and art, often as a representation of virginal purity. The Italian Renaissance poet Gaspara Stampa, born in 1523, wrote a collection of poems titled "Rime di Parthenia," which explored themes of unrequited love and the idealization of feminine virtue.
In more recent times, the name Parthenia has been used sparingly, but a few notable individuals have borne this name. Parthenia Clementine Rudd, born in 1833, was an American writer and educator who published works on philosophy and education. Parthenia Cibull, born in 1931, was an American artist and sculptor known for her abstract and minimalist works.
Overall, the name Parthenia has a rich historical legacy, rooted in ancient Greek culture and later embraced by Christian traditions. While not widely popular, it has been carried by individuals who have left their mark in various fields, serving as a reminder of the ideals of purity and virtue that it once represented.
People
Parthenia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Parthenia 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
Parthenia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Parthenia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 504 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Parthenia 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 680,068 US residents.
Is Parthenia a common name?
We classify Parthenia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,447 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Parthenia most popular?
The single biggest year for Parthenia was 1923, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Parthenia is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Parthenia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 566 people with the name Parthenia, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,900 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 Parthenia 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 Parthenia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Parthenia appears almost entirely female. Of the 567 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Parthenia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Parthenia is Black at 66.3%. The next largest groups are White (28.8%) and Two or More Races (3.2%). 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 Parthenia most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Parthenia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.3% (375 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 Parthenia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Parthenia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Parthenia 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 Parthenia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Parthenia 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 Parthenia 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 Americans are named Parthenia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.