Pessie
A diminutive form of the name Patience or Pessa, of Greek origin.
Name Census estimates that about 28 living Americans carry the first name Pessie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pessie today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pessie births was 1987 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pessie. 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 Pessie. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
28
~ 1 in 12,241,226 Americans
Peak year
1987
7 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2015 SSA rank
#15,954
Tracked since 1987
Census
Pessie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 129 people with the first name Pessie, which placed it at #48,862 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
#48,862
National first-name rank
People counted
129
129 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pessie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pessie is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%) and Black (2.3%). 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 Pessie 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 Pessie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.8% · 121
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.1% · 4
- Black or African American2.3% · 3
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 1
Popularity
Pessie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pessie from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 12 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
Pessie 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 Pessie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pessies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pessie
The name Pessie is believed to have originated from the ancient Greek language, specifically from the word "pessi" which means "stone" or "rock." This name was likely derived as a reference to someone who was strong, steadfast, or resilient like a rock. The earliest recorded use of the name Pessie dates back to the 5th century BC in ancient Greece.
In ancient Greek mythology, there was a minor deity named Pessi, who was the personification of rocks and stones. She was often depicted as a young woman holding a rock or standing on a rocky outcrop. While not a major figure in Greek mythology, her existence suggests that the name Pessie held some significance in ancient Greek culture.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Pessie was a Greek philosopher who lived in the 3rd century BC. Pessie of Ephesus was a follower of the Stoic school of philosophy and is mentioned in several ancient texts for her teachings on virtue and moral character.
In the 2nd century AD, there was a Christian martyr named Pessie who was put to death for her faith during the persecution of Christians in the Roman Empire. She is remembered in various early Christian writings and is venerated as a saint in some traditions.
During the Byzantine Empire, a notable figure named Pessie lived in the 6th century AD. Pessie of Constantinople was a renowned scholar and writer who authored several works on philosophy, theology, and literature. Her texts were widely read and influential during her time.
In the 12th century, there was a French noblewoman named Pessie de Montfort who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathars in southern France. She is mentioned in several historical chronicles for her leadership and military strategy during the conflict.
While not as common in modern times, the name Pessie has persisted throughout history, albeit with variations in spelling and pronunciation across different cultures and languages.
People
Pessie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pessie 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
Pessie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pessie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 28 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pessie 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 12,241,226 US residents.
Is Pessie a common name?
We classify Pessie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 45.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 29 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pessie most popular?
The single biggest year for Pessie was 1987, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pessie is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pessie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 129 people with the name Pessie, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #48,862 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 Pessie 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 Pessie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pessie appears almost entirely female. Of the 123 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Pessie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pessie is White at 93.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (3.1%) and Black (2.3%). 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 Pessie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pessie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (121 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 Pessie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pessie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pessie 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 Pessie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pessie 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 Pessie 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 common is the name Pessie?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Pessie at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.