Scipio
A masculine Roman cognomen meaning "staff" or "walking stick."
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Scipio. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Scipio today is around 86 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Scipio births was 1921 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Scipio. 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
- • The typical person named Scipio is about 86 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Scipios were born before 1950.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Scipio. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
1921
8 babies that year
Average age
86
years old
1948 SSA rank
#4,108
Tracked since 1916
Census
Scipio in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 104 people with the first name Scipio, which placed it at #52,876 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
#52,876
National first-name rank
People counted
104
104 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
71.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Scipio
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scipio is Black at 71.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Scipio 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 Scipio at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American71.2% · 74
- White16.3% · 17
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 6
- Two or more races5.8% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 1
Popularity
Scipio: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Scipio from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 19 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
Scipio 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 Scipio during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Scipio
The name Scipio originates from the ancient Roman language of Latin. Its roots can be traced back to the 3rd century BC, derived from the Latin word "scipio," meaning "staff" or "walking stick." This name held significant importance in Roman culture, particularly for a prominent noble family known as the Cornelii Scipiones.
One of the earliest and most renowned figures associated with the name Scipio was Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Major (236-183 BC). He was a celebrated Roman general and statesman who played a pivotal role in the Second Punic War against Carthage. His military achievements, including the decisive victory at the Battle of Zama in 202 BC, earned him the prestigious agnomen "Africanus" (the African).
Another notable figure was Publius Cornelius Scipio Aemilianus Africanus Minor (185-129 BC), the adopted grandson of Scipio Africanus Major. He was a Roman general and politician who gained fame for his conquest of Carthage in the Third Punic War, leading to the city's destruction in 146 BC. His actions solidified Rome's dominance in the Mediterranean region.
In the 1st century BC, Quintus Caecilius Metellus Pius Scipio (c. 98-46 BC) was a Roman nobleman and military leader who fought alongside Pompey the Great during the Great Roman Civil War against Julius Caesar. Despite his efforts, he was ultimately defeated by Caesar at the Battle of Thapsus in 46 BC.
During the medieval period, the name Scipio resurfaced in literary works and chronicles. One notable figure was Scipio Africanus (c. 1468-1526), an Italian scholar and poet from Venice. He is known for his Latin translations of ancient Greek texts and for his contributions to the literary and intellectual circles of the Renaissance.
In more recent times, the name Scipio has been carried by individuals such as Scipio Sighele (1868-1913), an Italian criminologist and sociologist who made significant contributions to the study of crowd psychology and collective behavior.
While the name Scipio may not be as common today as it once was, its historical significance and association with notable figures from ancient Rome and beyond have cemented its place in the annals of history.
People
Scipio + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Scipio as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with S
Other first names starting with S with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Scipio: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Scipio?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Scipio 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Scipio a common name?
We classify Scipio as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 57 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Scipio most popular?
The single biggest year for Scipio was 1921, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Scipio is about 86 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Scipio in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 104 people with the name Scipio, or 0.03 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #52,876 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 Scipio 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 Scipio?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Scipio leans strongly male. 102 people counted with this name were male (93.6%), compared with 7 female bearers (6.4%). 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 Scipio?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Scipio is Black at 71.2%. The next largest groups are White (16.3%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Scipio most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Scipio in the 2020 Census, accounting for 71.2% (74 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 Scipio in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Scipio a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Scipio in the SSA data are male. 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 Scipio still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Scipio 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 Scipio 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 Scipio?
See how many people have the name Scipio on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.