Petina
A feminine variant of the name Petina of disputed origin.
Name Census estimates that about 106 living Americans carry the first name Petina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Petina today is around 53 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petina births was 1973 (19 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petina. 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
106
~ 1 in 3,233,531 Americans
Peak year
1973
19 babies that year
Average age
53
years old
1981 SSA rank
#10,009
Tracked since 1965
Census
Petina in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 141 people with the first name Petina, which placed it at #46,868 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
#46,868
National first-name rank
People counted
141
141 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
49.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Petina
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petina is Black at 49.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.3%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Petina 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 Petina at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American49.6% · 70
- White38.3% · 54
- Two or more races5.0% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 5
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.1% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
Popularity
Petina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petina from the 1960s through to the 1980s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 75 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
Petina 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 Petina 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 Petina
The given name Petina is believed to have its origins in the Latin language. It is derived from the Latin word "petinus," which means "rock" or "stone." The earliest recorded use of this name dates back to ancient Roman times, when it was given to individuals, particularly those born in rocky or mountainous regions.
One of the earliest known references to the name Petina can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who lived from 59 BC to 17 AD. In his historical accounts, Livy mentioned a Roman soldier named Petina who fought bravely in the Punic Wars against Carthage.
During the Middle Ages, the name Petina gained popularity among certain Christian communities, particularly those located in areas with rocky terrain or near quarries. It was believed that the name symbolized strength, resilience, and a connection to the earth.
One notable individual named Petina was Petina of Blois, a 12th-century French noblewoman known for her patronage of the arts and her support of local monasteries. She lived from approximately 1090 to 1160.
In the Renaissance period, the name Petina saw a resurgence in Italy, where it was associated with artists and sculptors working with stone and marble. One such artist was Petina Fiorentino, a renowned sculptor from Florence who lived from 1445 to 1515 and was commissioned to create several important works for churches and noble families.
During the 17th century, a Dutch explorer named Petina van der Meer gained fame for her expeditions to the East Indies and her detailed accounts of the cultures and landscapes she encountered. She lived from 1620 to 1688.
In more recent times, Petina Gappah, a Zimbabwean lawyer and author, has gained recognition for her novels and short stories exploring themes of identity, colonialism, and social justice. She was born in 1971 and continues to write and publish acclaimed works.
While the name Petina may not be as common today as it once was, its historical roots and associations with strength, resilience, and artistic expression make it a unique and meaningful choice for those seeking a name with a rich cultural heritage.
People
Petina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petina 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
Petina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 106 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petina 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 3,233,531 US residents.
Is Petina a common name?
We classify Petina as "Very Rare". It ranks above 65.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 119 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petina most popular?
The single biggest year for Petina was 1973, when 19 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petina is about 53 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Petina in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 141 people with the name Petina, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,868 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 Petina 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 Petina?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Petina appears almost entirely female. Of the 145 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 Petina?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petina is Black at 49.6%. The next largest groups are White (38.3%) and Two or More Races (5.0%). 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 Petina most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Petina in the 2020 Census, accounting for 49.6% (70 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 Petina in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Petina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petina 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 Petina still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Petina 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 Petina 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 share the name Petina?
Want to know how many people share the name Petina? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.