Purity
A virtue name meaning innocence, chasteness, or freedom from contamination.
Name Census estimates that about 347 living Americans carry the first name Purity. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Purity today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Purity births was 2024 (24 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Purity. 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 Purity with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
347
~ 1 in 987,765 Americans
Peak year
2024
24 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,387
Tracked since 1991
Census
Purity in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 455 people with the first name Purity, which placed it at #22,044 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
#22,044
National first-name rank
People counted
455
455 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Purity
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Purity is Black at 69.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Purity 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 Purity at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American69.0% · 314
- White16.3% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino6.2% · 28
- Two or more races5.7% · 26
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 3
Popularity
Purity: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Purity 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 135 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Purity remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Purity 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 Purity during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Puritys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, Georgia recorded the most babies named Purity, while Georgia, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 10 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Purity
The name Purity has its origins in the Latin language, stemming from the word "purus," which means clean, pure, or unmixed. It first emerged as a given name during the medieval period, particularly in Christian contexts, where it was used to convey a sense of moral and spiritual purity.
In the early centuries of Christianity, the concept of purity held great significance, as it symbolized the spiritual cleansing of the soul and the pursuit of a virtuous life. The name Purity became associated with this ideal, often bestowed upon individuals as a reminder of their commitment to living a life of righteousness and devotion to their faith.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Purity can be found in the annals of the Catholic Church, where it was borne by Saint Purity, a 5th-century Christian martyr from Clermont-Ferrand, France. Her unwavering devotion to her faith and her refusal to renounce Christianity, even in the face of persecution, earned her the epithet "Purity."
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Purity gained popularity among religious orders and monastic communities, where it was embraced as a symbol of the spiritual purity and chastity espoused by these groups. Purity was often given to nuns and other consecrated individuals, reflecting their commitment to a life of virtue and devotion.
In the literary realm, the name Purity appeared in various works, including John Milton's epic poem "Paradise Lost," where it was used to personify the concept of purity and innocence. Milton's portrayal of Purity as a virtuous and untainted character further cemented the name's association with these ideals.
Notable individuals who bore the name Purity throughout history include Purity Norton (1640-1732), one of the first female writers and poets in colonial America, known for her religious and moral writings. Another notable figure was Purity Pool (1798-1882), an English Quaker minister and activist who campaigned for women's rights and the abolition of slavery.
In the realm of art, Purity was the name chosen by the English painter and illustrator Purity Maltwood (1866-1957), whose works often depicted scenes from literature and mythology, reflecting her fascination with symbolism and allegory.
While the name Purity has its roots in the Christian tradition, it has transcended religious boundaries and is now embraced by individuals of various backgrounds, drawn to its connotations of moral integrity, virtue, and innocence.
People
Purity + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Purity 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
Purity: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Purity?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 347 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Purity 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 987,765 US residents.
Is Purity a common name?
We classify Purity as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 350 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Purity most popular?
The single biggest year for Purity was 2024, when 24 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Purity is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Purity in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 455 people with the name Purity, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #22,044 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 Purity 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 Purity?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Purity leans strongly female. 456 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 7 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 Purity?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Purity is Black at 69.0%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (6.2%). 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 Purity most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Purity in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (314 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 Purity in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Purity a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Purity 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 Purity still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Purity 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 Purity 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 Purity?
Find out how many people share the name Purity on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.