Persia
An exotic feminine name derived from the ancient Persian empire.
Name Census estimates that about 763 living Americans carry the first name Persia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Persia today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Persia births was 2007 (73 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Persia. 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
763
~ 1 in 449,219 Americans
Peak year
2007
73 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,123
Tracked since 1975
Popularity
Persia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Persia from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 377 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Persia 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 Persia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Persias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Persia, while North Carolina, New York, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Persia
The name Persia originated from the Greek word "Persis", which referred to the ancient region of Persia, now modern-day Iran. This name has its roots in the Old Persian language, where it was derived from the word "parsa", meaning "Persian".
In ancient times, Persia was the name given to a vast empire that stretched from the Indus River in the east to the Mediterranean Sea in the west. This empire, known as the Achaemenid Empire, was founded by Cyrus the Great in the 6th century BCE and lasted until its conquest by Alexander the Great in 330 BCE.
The name Persia appears in various historical texts and records from this period, including the works of Greek historians such as Herodotus and Xenophon. It is also mentioned in the Bible, particularly in the Book of Esther, which is set in the Persian capital of Shushan (modern-day Shush, Iran) during the reign of King Ahasuerus, believed to be Xerxes I.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Persia was Persia, the daughter of the Greek philosopher Democritus, who lived in the 5th century BCE. Another notable figure was Persia, the wife of the Roman emperor Aurelian, who reigned from 270 to 275 CE.
Throughout history, several prominent individuals have borne the name Persia. These include Persia White (1889-1955), an American blues singer and songwriter; Persia Khambatta (1948-1998), an Indian actress and model who starred in the film "Star Trek: The Motion Picture"; and Persia Monir (born 1974), an Iranian-American author and educator.
Additionally, there were two queens of Georgia named Persia in the 17th century: Persia Mirianisdze (died 1612), the wife of King Luarsab II, and Persia Khundadze (died 1691), the wife of King Vakhtang V.
Another notable figure with the name Persia was Persia Crawford (1891-1963), an American civil rights activist and educator who worked to promote education and voting rights for African Americans in the early 20th century.
People
Persia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Persia 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
Persia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Persia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 763 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Persia 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 449,219 US residents.
Is Persia a common name?
We classify Persia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 775 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Persia most popular?
The single biggest year for Persia was 2007, when 73 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Persia is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Persia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Persia 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.