Posie
A diminutive form of the flower name Posy, derived from the French word "poser" meaning "to put down".
Name Census estimates that about 458 living Americans carry the first name Posie. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 88.6% of registrations being female. The average person named Posie today is around 6 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Posie births was 2021 (85 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Posie. 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 Posie with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
458
~ 1 in 748,372 Americans
Peak year
2021
85 babies that year
Average age
6
years old
1939 SSA rank
#3,151
Tracked since 1914
Census
Posie in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 204 people with the first name Posie, which placed it at #37,948 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
#37,948
National first-name rank
People counted
204
204 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Posie
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Posie is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Posie 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 Posie at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.2% · 137
- Black or African American18.6% · 38
- Hispanic or Latino7.4% · 15
- Two or more races3.9% · 8
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Posie
Posie leans heavily female at 88.6% of total registrations, but 60 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Posie as a male name
- Ranked #3,853 in 1939
- 5 male births in 1939
- Peak: 1922 (9 births)
Posie as a female name
- Ranked #3,151 in 2024
- 51 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (85 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Posie leans strongly female. 168 people counted with this name were female (81.6%), compared with 38 male bearers (18.4%).
Popularity
Posie: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Posie from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 357 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
Posie 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 Posie during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Posies live
The SSA's state-level files cover 14 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Posie, while Washington, Virginia, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Posie
The name Posie has its roots in the Old French word "posy," which was derived from the Latin word "posita," meaning "a flower or a bouquet of flowers." The name was first used as a nickname for someone who enjoyed or worked with flowers, particularly during the Middle Ages in England and France.
In the 16th and 17th centuries, the name Posie became more popular as a given name, especially among the upper classes in England. It was sometimes used as a diminutive or pet name for more formal names such as Penelope or Josephine.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Posie was in the 1595 play "A Warning for Fair Women" by an anonymous author, where a character named Posie was mentioned. The name also appeared in various literary works of the time, including poems and plays.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Posie. One of the earliest examples was Posie Baskin (1698-1780), an English poet and author known for her collection of poems titled "The Posie of Flowers." Another notable bearer of the name was Posie Lamberton (1821-1899), an American educator and writer who founded the Lamberton Female Seminary in Pennsylvania.
In the 19th century, the name Posie gained popularity in the United States. One of the most famous Posies was Posie Parker (1836-1919), an American businesswoman and philanthropist who established the Posie Parker Memorial Hospital in New York City.
Another notable Posie was Posie Lamberton (1862-1936), an American artist and illustrator who was known for her work in children's books and magazines. She was also a member of the Philadelphia Art Club.
In the 20th century, the name Posie continued to be used, though less frequently. One of the more recent notable bearers of the name was Posie Graeme-Evans (1918-2013), an Australian television producer and screenwriter who worked on several popular Australian soap operas and dramas.
While the name Posie may not be as common today as it once was, it still carries a charming and floral connotation that reflects its historical roots and associations with beauty, nature, and poetry.
People
Posie + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Posie 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
Posie: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Posie?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 458 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Posie 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 748,372 US residents.
Is Posie a common name?
We classify Posie as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 527 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Posie most popular?
The single biggest year for Posie was 2021, when 85 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Posie is about 6 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Posie in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 204 people with the name Posie, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,948 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 Posie 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 Posie?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Posie leans strongly female. 168 people counted with this name were female (81.6%), compared with 38 male bearers (18.4%). 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 Posie?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Posie is White at 67.2%. The next largest groups are Black (18.6%) and Hispanic (7.4%). 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 Posie most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Posie in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.2% (137 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 Posie in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Posie a female name?
Yes, 88.6% of people registered as Posie 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 Posie still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Posie 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 Posie 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 common is the name Posie?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.