Qiana
An English feminine name of unknown origin, potentially relating to chinchilla fur.
Name Census estimates that about 2,446 living Americans carry the first name Qiana. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Qiana today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Qiana births was 1978 (372 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Qiana. 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 Qiana with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.4K
~ 1 in 140,129 Americans
Peak year
1978
372 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,840
Tracked since 1970
Census
Qiana in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,092 people with the first name Qiana, which placed it at #7,327 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
#7,327
National first-name rank
People counted
2.1K
2,092 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
77.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Qiana
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Qiana is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and White (7.1%). 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 Qiana 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 Qiana at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American77.1% · 1,613
- Hispanic or Latino7.7% · 162
- White7.1% · 149
- Two or more races6.0% · 126
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 28
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.7% · 14
Popularity
Qiana: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Qiana from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 1,261 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Qiana 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 Qiana during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Qianas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Illinois, California, New York recorded the most babies named Qiana, while Mississippi, Colorado, Arkansas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 67 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Qiana
The name Qiana is a relatively modern invention, first appearing in the late 20th century. It does not have a clear linguistic or cultural origin, but is believed to have been inspired by the synthetic fiber known as qiana, which was developed by DuPont in the 1960s. The name Qiana itself is thought to have been created by combining the letter "Q" with the popular suffix "-iana" or "-ana," which was often used in feminine names.
Despite its recent coinage, the name Qiana quickly gained popularity in the United States and other English-speaking countries. One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Qiana was for the American actress and singer Qiana Dion, who was born in 1970. Qiana Dion's birth name was actually Shante, but she later adopted the stage name Qiana as it was considered more distinctive and memorable.
Another notable figure named Qiana was Qiana Morenike Xydis, a South African writer and activist born in 1978. Xydis is known for her work promoting LGBTQ+ rights and advocating for racial equality.
In the world of sports, Qiana Shanté Martin is a former professional basketball player from the United States who was born in 1983. She played in the WNBA for several teams, including the Phoenix Mercury and the Miami Sol.
Qiana Holland is an American entrepreneur and businesswoman born in 1979. She is the founder and CEO of the haircare company Qiana's Essentials, which specializes in products for curly and textured hair.
Finally, Qiana Arielle McGruder is an American actress and model born in 1984. She has appeared in various television shows and films, including roles in the crime drama series "The Wire" and the comedy film "American Pie Presents: The Book of Love."
While the name Qiana is relatively new and lacks a deep historical lineage, it has gained a foothold in modern times and has been adopted by several notable individuals across various fields and backgrounds.
People
Qiana + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Qiana as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with Q
Other first names starting with Q with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Qiana: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Qiana?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,446 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Qiana 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 140,129 US residents.
Is Qiana a common name?
We classify Qiana as "Rare". It ranks above 94.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,617 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Qiana most popular?
The single biggest year for Qiana was 1978, when 372 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Qiana is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Qiana in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,092 people with the name Qiana, or 0.69 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,327 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 Qiana 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 Qiana?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Qiana appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,087 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Qiana?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Qiana is Black at 77.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.7%) and White (7.1%). 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 Qiana most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Qiana in the 2020 Census, accounting for 77.1% (1,613 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 Qiana in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Qiana a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Qiana 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 Qiana still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Qiana 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 Qiana 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 Americans are named Qiana?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.