Pepsi
Derived from a slang abbreviation of the word "peptic," pertaining to digestion.
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Pepsi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pepsi today is around 48 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pepsi births was 1976 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pepsi. 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 Pepsi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
1976
10 babies that year
Average age
48
years old
1989 SSA rank
#13,886
Tracked since 1970
Census
Pepsi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 125 people with the first name Pepsi, which placed it at #49,507 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
#49,507
National first-name rank
People counted
125
125 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
48.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pepsi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pepsi is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.0%). 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 Pepsi 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 Pepsi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White48.0% · 60
- Black or African American19.2% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander16.0% · 20
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 12
- Two or more races6.4% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Popularity
Pepsi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pepsi from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 34 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pepsi 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 Pepsi 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 Pepsi
The given name Pepsi is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek word "pepsis," which means "digestion." It was first used in the region of ancient Greece around the 5th century BCE.
In ancient Greek mythology, Pepsi was the name of a minor deity associated with digestive health and the consumption of food and drink. Some scholars have suggested that the name may have been derived from the Greek word "pepsi," which means "to digest" or "to cook."
The earliest recorded use of the name Pepsi can be found in a few ancient Greek texts and inscriptions, although it was not a common name during that time period. One notable example is a reference to a character named Pepsi in the play "The Clouds" by the ancient Greek playwright Aristophanes, which was written in 423 BCE.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Pepsi. One of the earliest was Pepsi of Miletus, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 5th century BCE. He is credited with being one of the first individuals to propose the idea of using deductive reasoning to prove mathematical theorems.
Another notable figure was Pepsi of Alexandria, a Greek scholar and astronomer who lived in the 2nd century CE. He is best known for his work on calculating the circumference of the Earth and for his contributions to the study of astronomy.
In the 16th century, there was a Spanish explorer named Pepsi de Soto who accompanied Hernando de Soto on his expeditions to North America. He is credited with being one of the first Europeans to explore parts of what is now the southeastern United States.
In the 18th century, there was a French military officer named Pepsi de Grasse who played a significant role in the American Revolutionary War. He commanded the French naval forces that helped secure the decisive victory over the British at the Battle of the Chesapeake in 1781.
Finally, in the early 20th century, there was an American artist and illustrator named Pepsi Waldo who was known for his work in children's books and magazines. He was born in 1887 and died in 1965.
While the name Pepsi has been used throughout history, it has never been a particularly common or popular name. Its origins and associations with ancient Greek mythology and culture, however, have made it a unique and interesting name with a rich historical background.
People
Pepsi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pepsi 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
Pepsi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pepsi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pepsi 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Pepsi a common name?
We classify Pepsi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 44 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pepsi most popular?
The single biggest year for Pepsi was 1976, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pepsi is about 48 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pepsi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 125 people with the name Pepsi, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,507 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 Pepsi 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 Pepsi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pepsi leans strongly female. 106 people counted with this name were female (84.1%), compared with 20 male bearers (15.9%). 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 Pepsi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pepsi is White at 48.0%. The next largest groups are Black (19.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (16.0%). 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 Pepsi most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pepsi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.0% (60 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 Pepsi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pepsi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pepsi 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 Pepsi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pepsi 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 Pepsi 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 called Pepsi?
You can see how many people have the name Pepsi on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.