Perpetua
A feminine name of Latin origin meaning "eternal" or "perpetual".
Name Census estimates that about 176 living Americans carry the first name Perpetua. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Perpetua today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Perpetua births was 2022 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Perpetua. 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
176
~ 1 in 1,947,468 Americans
Peak year
2022
22 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,805
Tracked since 2007
Popularity
Perpetua: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Perpetua from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 90 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Perpetua 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 Perpetua 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 Perpetua
Perpetua is a feminine given name of Latin origin, derived from the Latin word "perpetuus," meaning "perpetual" or "everlasting." The name first gained prominence in the early Christian era, around the 3rd century AD, when it was borne by Vibia Perpetua, a young noblewoman from Carthage who was martyred for her Christian faith in 203 AD.
Perpetua's story is documented in the "Passion of Saints Perpetua and Felicity," which recounts her imprisonment, visions, and eventual execution in the arena alongside her slave, Felicity. Her steadfast faith and courage in the face of persecution made her an inspirational figure in early Christianity, and her name became associated with endurance and constancy.
The earliest recorded examples of the name Perpetua can be found in ancient Christian texts and martyr chronicles from the 3rd and 4th centuries. It was particularly popular among early Christian communities in North Africa and Italy, where several martyrs and saints bore the name.
Throughout history, Perpetua has been carried by notable figures, including Saint Perpetua of Antioch (5th century), a Christian martyr; Perpetua of Mauritania (5th century), a Christian saint; and Perpetua of Rome (7th century), a Christian martyr. In the 12th century, the name was borne by Perpetua of Mozambique, a Benedictine abbess and missionary.
Other notable individuals named Perpetua include Perpetua Alliata (1760-1824), an Italian feminist and writer, and Perpetua Durack (1909-1988), an Australian writer and artist. In literature, the name appears in works such as "The Perpetua Story" by Gabriele D'Annunzio (1838-1938), an Italian novelist and poet.
While not as widely used in modern times, the name Perpetua continues to evoke a sense of endurance and timelessness, reflecting its profound historical and religious roots.
People
Perpetua + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Perpetua 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
Perpetua: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Perpetua?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 176 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Perpetua 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 1,947,468 US residents.
Is Perpetua a common name?
We classify Perpetua as "Very Rare". It ranks above 72.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 177 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Perpetua most popular?
The single biggest year for Perpetua was 2022, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Perpetua is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Perpetua a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Perpetua 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.