Polina
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "little wanderer or little traveler".
Name Census estimates that about 1,272 living Americans carry the first name Polina. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Polina today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Polina births was 2017 (74 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Polina. 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
- • Polina is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.3K
~ 1 in 269,461 Americans
Peak year
2017
74 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,310
Tracked since 1991
Popularity
Polina: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Polina from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 606 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Polina remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Polina 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 Polina during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Polinas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Polina, while New Jersey, Massachusetts, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 84 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Polina
The name Polina is a Russian feminine given name derived from the Greek name Apollinaria. It is a variant of the Russian name Polya, which in turn comes from the Greek name Apollonia, meaning "of Apollo" or "related to Apollo." Apollo was the Greek god of music, poetry, prophecy, and medicine.
The name Polina has its roots in ancient Greek mythology and culture. It was used in the Byzantine Empire and spread to Slavic countries through the influence of the Orthodox Christian faith. The name's association with the god Apollo may have originally given it a connection to the arts, knowledge, and healing.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Polina can be found in the hagiography of Saint Apollinaria, a Christian martyr from the 3rd century AD. She was a virgin from Antioch who was tortured and executed for her faith during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Philip the Arab.
In the 9th century, Saint Polina of Ríonobo was a nun and abbess in the Iberian Peninsula who founded several monasteries and is venerated in the Orthodox Church. Her feast day is celebrated on September 9th.
Polina Viardo (1821-1910) was a Russian opera singer and one of the leading sopranos of her time. She performed extensively in Italy, France, and Russia, and is considered one of the greatest interpreters of the works of Giuseppe Verdi.
Polina Semionova (born 1984) is a Russian ballet dancer who has been a principal dancer with the American Ballet Theatre and the Berliner Staatsballett. She is widely acclaimed for her technical virtuosity and dramatic intensity.
Polina Zherebyateva (born 1989) is a Russian former artistic gymnast who competed in the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, where she won a silver medal in the team competition.
People
Polina + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Polina 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
Polina: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Polina?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Polina 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 269,461 US residents.
Is Polina a common name?
We classify Polina as "Rare". It ranks above 91.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,286 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Polina most popular?
The single biggest year for Polina was 2017, when 74 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Polina is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Polina a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Polina 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.
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.