Petronila
A feminine form of Peter, derived from the Greek "petros" meaning "rock".
Name Census estimates that about 40 living Americans carry the first name Petronila. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Petronila today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Petronila births was 2020 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Petronila. 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 Petronila. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
40
~ 1 in 8,568,858 Americans
Peak year
2020
10 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,862
Tracked since 1888
Census
Petronila in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,711 people with the first name Petronila, which placed it at #8,477 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
#8,477
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,711 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Petronila
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petronila is Hispanic at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Petronila 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 Petronila at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.3% · 1,511
- Asian and Pacific Islander9.4% · 161
- Black or African American1.3% · 22
- White1.0% · 17
Popularity
Petronila: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Petronila from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 18 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
Petronila 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 Petronila during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Petronilas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Petronila
The name Petronila originates from the Late Latin name Petronia, which is a feminine form of the Roman family name Petronius. The root of this name is the Latin word "petra," meaning "rock" or "stone." It emerged during the early Christian period in regions where Latin was spoken, such as Italy, Spain, and parts of France.
Petronila was the name of several early Christian saints and martyrs, which contributed to its popularity in the Middle Ages. One of the earliest recorded instances is Saint Petronila, a virgin martyr from the 1st century AD, who is honored by the Catholic Church. Her name is mentioned in the apocryphal Acts of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul.
Another significant figure who bore this name was Petronila de Aragón (1136-1173), also known as Petronila of Aragon. She was the Queen of Aragon and Countess of Barcelona from 1137 until her death. Her reign marked the union of the Kingdom of Aragon and the County of Barcelona, which laid the foundation for the Crown of Aragon.
In the 13th century, Petronila de Moncada (1236-1285) was a Spanish noblewoman and the Lady of Moncada. She played a crucial role in the conquest of Valencia during the Reconquista and served as the regent of the Kingdom of Valencia for her grandson, James II of Aragon.
During the Renaissance period, Petronilla de Oñate (1491-1559) was a Spanish noble and philanthropist. She founded the Convent of the Augustinian Recollects in Valladolid and was known for her acts of charity and support for the poor.
In the 17th century, Petronila de Silva y Mendoza (1602-1667) was a Spanish noblewoman and the Countess of Oropesa. She held significant influence during the reign of Philip IV of Spain and was a patron of the arts, supporting writers and artists of her time.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals throughout history who bore the name Petronila, which has its roots in the Latin language and early Christian traditions.
People
Petronila + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Petronila 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
Petronila: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Petronila?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 40 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Petronila 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 8,568,858 US residents.
Is Petronila a common name?
We classify Petronila as "Very Rare". It ranks above 51% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 64 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Petronila most popular?
The single biggest year for Petronila was 2020, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Petronila is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Petronila in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,711 people with the name Petronila, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,477 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 Petronila 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 Petronila?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Petronila appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,705 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 Petronila?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Petronila is Hispanic at 88.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (9.4%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Petronila most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Petronila in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.3% (1,511 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 Petronila in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Petronila a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Petronila 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 Petronila still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Petronila 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 Petronila 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 Petronila?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.