Romelia
A name of disputed meaning, possibly derived from Latin words signifying "Roman woman".
Name Census estimates that about 1,037 living Americans carry the first name Romelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Romelia today is around 49 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Romelia births was 1954 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Romelia. 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 Romelia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 330,525 Americans
Peak year
1954
34 babies that year
Average age
49
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,739
Tracked since 1912
Census
Romelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,595 people with the first name Romelia, which placed it at #4,943 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
#4,943
National first-name rank
People counted
3.6K
3,595 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Romelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Romelia is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.4%) and White (1.8%). 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 Romelia 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 Romelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.4% · 3,359
- Black or African American2.4% · 86
- White1.8% · 64
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.7% · 60
- Two or more races0.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 11
Popularity
Romelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Romelia from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 243 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1950s peak, Romelia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Romelia 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 Romelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Romelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Romelia, while Arizona, New Mexico, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 171 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Romelia
The name Romelia likely originated from the Latin word "romula," which means "little Roman woman." Its roots can be traced back to ancient Rome and the Latin language. The name is a feminine variant of the masculine name Romulus, who, according to Roman mythology, was one of the legendary founders of Rome along with his twin brother Remus.
In ancient times, the name Romelia was primarily used among the Roman aristocracy and upper classes. It was seen as a symbol of pride and connection to the founding of the great city of Rome. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 1st century AD, when it was borne by a few women from prominent Roman families.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Romelia was a Roman noblewoman who lived during the reign of Emperor Nero in the 1st century AD. Unfortunately, not much is known about her life or accomplishments, but her name has been documented in historical records from that era.
In the 4th century AD, there was a Christian martyr named Romelia who was executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman emperor Diocletian. She is venerated as a saint in some Christian traditions, and her feast day is celebrated on October 6th.
Another notable Romelia was a 12th-century Italian noblewoman who was a patron of the arts and literature during the Renaissance period. She was known for her patronage of several renowned artists and poets of her time, though specific details about her life are scarce.
In the 16th century, Romelia Avogadro was an Italian botanist and one of the earliest female scientists of the Renaissance era. She made significant contributions to the study of plants and their medicinal properties, and her work was widely respected by her contemporaries.
During the 19th century, Romelia Griffiths was a British artist and painter known for her portraits and landscapes. She was a member of the Royal Academy of Arts and exhibited her works regularly during her lifetime, which spanned from 1820 to 1888.
People
Romelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Romelia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with R
Other first names starting with R with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Romelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Romelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,037 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Romelia 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 330,525 US residents.
Is Romelia a common name?
We classify Romelia as "Rare". It ranks above 90.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,617 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Romelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Romelia was 1954, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Romelia is about 49 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Romelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,595 people with the name Romelia, or 1.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,943 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 Romelia 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 Romelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Romelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,591 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Romelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Romelia is Hispanic at 93.4%. The next largest groups are Black (2.4%) and White (1.8%). 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 Romelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Romelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.4% (3,359 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 Romelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Romelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Romelia 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 Romelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Romelia 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 Romelia 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 Romelia?
Want to know how many people have the name Romelia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.