Petrona
A feminine name of Spanish and Latin origin meaning "enduring, everlasting".
Name Census estimates that about 369 living Americans carry the first name Petrona. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Petrona today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petrona births was 2024 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petrona. 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
369
~ 1 in 928,874 Americans
Peak year
2024
45 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,476
Tracked since 1913
Census
Petrona in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,064 people with the first name Petrona, which placed it at #7,408 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
#7,408
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,064 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
87.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Petrona
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petrona is Hispanic at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Petrona 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 Petrona at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino87.8% · 1,813
- Black or African American8.6% · 177
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 33
- White1.3% · 26
- Two or more races0.4% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 6
Popularity
Petrona: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petrona from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 132 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
Petrona 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 Petrona during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Petronas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Alabama, Florida, California recorded the most babies named Petrona, while California, Florida, Alabama recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 11 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Petrona
The name Petrona has its origins in the Late Latin word "Petronia," which is derived from the Roman family name "Petronius." The name Petronius is believed to have been derived from the Latin word "petra," meaning "rock" or "stone." This suggests that the name Petrona may have originally been associated with strength, durability, or a connection to the natural world.
Petrona was a relatively common name among early Christian communities, particularly in the Mediterranean region. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the 6th century, when a woman named Petrona lived in the Italian city of Aquileia. She was known for her piety and charitable works, and was later venerated as a saint by the Catholic Church.
In the Middle Ages, the name Petrona gained popularity in various parts of Europe, particularly in Spain and Italy. One notable figure from this period was Petrona de Braganza, a Portuguese noblewoman who lived in the 14th century. She was renowned for her devotion to charitable causes and founded several monasteries and hospitals.
During the Renaissance, the name Petrona continued to be used, though it was less common than other feminine names of the time. One notable bearer of the name was Petrona Riccia, an Italian painter who lived in the 16th century and was known for her religious works and portraits.
In the 18th century, Petrona Camilla Miglio was an Italian mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the fields of celestial mechanics and the calculation of planetary orbits. She was one of the few women of her time to achieve recognition in the sciences.
As the name Petrona spread across Europe, it also found its way to the Americas through Spanish and Portuguese colonization. In the late 18th century, Petrona Rosende de Sierra was a Cuban writer and poet who was celebrated for her literary works and her advocacy for women's education.
While the name Petrona has fallen out of widespread use in modern times, it continues to hold historical significance and resonance, particularly in regions where it has deep cultural roots. Its connection to strength, endurance, and natural elements has given it a lasting appeal throughout the centuries.
People
Petrona + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petrona 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
Petrona: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petrona?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 369 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petrona 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 928,874 US residents.
Is Petrona a common name?
We classify Petrona as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 378 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petrona most popular?
The single biggest year for Petrona was 2024, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petrona is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Petrona in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,064 people with the name Petrona, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,408 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 Petrona 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 Petrona?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Petrona appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,061 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Petrona?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petrona is Hispanic at 87.8%. The next largest groups are Black (8.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.6%). 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 Petrona most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Petrona in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.8% (1,813 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 Petrona in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Petrona a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petrona 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 Petrona still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Petrona 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 Petrona 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 Petrona?
Find out how many people share the name Petrona on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.