Pixie
A mythical fairy or sprite from English folklore.
Name Census estimates that about 523 living Americans carry the first name Pixie. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Pixie today is around 36 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Pixie births was 1955 (37 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Pixie. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Pixie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
523
~ 1 in 655,362 Americans
Peak year
1955
37 babies that year
Average age
36
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,085
Tracked since 1946
Census
Pixie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 589 people with the first name Pixie, which placed it at #18,321 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
#18,321
National first-name rank
People counted
589
589 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Pixie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pixie is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Pixie 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 Pixie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.2% · 449
- Hispanic or Latino11.2% · 66
- Two or more races6.3% · 37
- Black or African American4.4% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 4
Popularity
Pixie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Pixie from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 177 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Pixie remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Pixie 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 Pixie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Pixies live
Origin
Meaning and history of Pixie
The given name Pixie is derived from the Old English word "pixi", which referred to a small, mischievous fairy or sprite. This word has its roots in the Old Norse "pygge", meaning a small supernatural being. The name has been in use since at least the 16th century, when it began appearing in various literary works and folklore tales.
In the Middle Ages, the name Pixie was often associated with the mythological creatures known as pixies or fairies. These mischievous beings were believed to play tricks on humans and cause mischief. The name was sometimes used as a descriptor for people who were considered playful or impish.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Pixie can be found in the 16th-century play "The Merry Wives of Windsor" by William Shakespeare. In the play, one of the characters refers to a "pixie elf" who causes mischief. This reference suggests that the name was in use during the Elizabethan era.
Throughout history, the name Pixie has been borne by a few notable individuals. One example is Pixie Lott, a British singer-songwriter born in 1991. Another is Pixie Geldof, the daughter of musician Bob Geldof, born in 1990. In the early 20th century, there was an American actress named Pixie Lee (1911-2004), who appeared in several films during the 1930s and 1940s.
In the 19th century, the name Pixie was associated with the Victorian era's fascination with fairies and mythological creatures. This connection is evident in the work of renowned English writer J.M. Barrie, who introduced the character of Tinker Bell, a pixie fairy, in his 1904 play "Peter Pan".
Another individual with the name Pixie was Pixie Williams (1920-2013), an American actress and model who appeared in various films and television shows throughout her career. She was known for her role in the 1942 film "Yankee Doodle Dandy".
While the name Pixie has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, it has maintained its whimsical and playful connotations, often associated with the world of fairies and mythological creatures.
People
Pixie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Pixie 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
Pixie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Pixie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 523 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Pixie 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 655,362 US residents.
Is Pixie a common name?
We classify Pixie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 611 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Pixie most popular?
The single biggest year for Pixie was 1955, when 37 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Pixie is about 36 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Pixie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 589 people with the name Pixie, or 0.20 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,321 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 Pixie 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 Pixie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Pixie leans strongly female. 584 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 9 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Pixie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Pixie is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (11.2%) and Two or More Races (6.3%). 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 Pixie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Pixie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (449 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 Pixie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Pixie a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Pixie 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 Pixie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Pixie 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 Pixie 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 named Pixie?
Find out how many people share the name Pixie on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.