Senobia
An English feminine name derived from the Latin word "senobia" meaning "woman from Shenev".
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Senobia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Senobia today is around 54 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Senobia births was 1978 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Senobia. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Senobia. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1978
6 babies that year
Average age
54
years old
1978 SSA rank
#9,475
Tracked since 1938
Census
Senobia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 161 people with the first name Senobia, which placed it at #43,643 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
#43,643
National first-name rank
People counted
161
161 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
60.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Senobia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Senobia is Hispanic at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.4%) and White (1.2%). 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 Senobia 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 Senobia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino60.9% · 98
- Black or African American35.4% · 57
- White1.2% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 2
- Two or more races1.2% · 2
Popularity
Senobia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Senobia from the 1930s through to the 1970s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 6 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
Senobia 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 Senobia 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 Senobia
Senobia is a feminine given name of Latin origin, derived from the ancient Roman family name Sempronia. The name Sempronia itself is believed to have its roots in the Latin word "semper," which means "always" or "ever." This suggests that the name Senobia may have been associated with concepts of endurance, longevity, or permanence in ancient Roman culture.
The earliest known historical figure bearing the name Senobia was a Roman woman named Sempronia, who lived in the 2nd century BC. She was a member of the prestigious Sempronian gens (clan) and was known for her involvement in the Catiline conspiracy, a failed attempt to overthrow the Roman Republic.
Another notable figure with the name Senobia was Zenobia, a 3rd-century Queen of Palmyra, a powerful and influential city-state in ancient Syria. Zenobia, whose name is sometimes spelled as Senobia, was renowned for her military prowess, intelligence, and resistance against the Roman Empire. She ruled Palmyra from 267 to 272 AD and led a rebellion against the Roman Emperor Aurelian, temporarily establishing an independent empire in the Middle East.
In the Middle Ages, the name Senobia appeared in various forms, such as Senobia, Sempronia, and Semprona, in different European regions. One notable figure was Semprona, a 12th-century Italian noblewoman and countess of Lecce, who played a significant role in the political affairs of the Kingdom of Sicily.
During the Renaissance period, the name Senobia gained popularity among Italian aristocratic families. One example is Senobia Molza, a 16th-century Italian poet and scholar who was renowned for her literary works and intellectual contributions.
In the 18th century, Senobia Dawes was a British painter and engraver who gained recognition for her portraiture and landscape paintings. She was active in London and exhibited her works at the Royal Academy of Arts.
These are just a few examples of historical figures who bore the name Senobia or its variations. The name has a rich history and has been used across different cultures and time periods, often associated with concepts of strength, endurance, and intellectual prowess.
People
Senobia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Senobia 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
Senobia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Senobia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Senobia 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Senobia a common name?
We classify Senobia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Senobia most popular?
The single biggest year for Senobia was 1978, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Senobia is about 54 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Senobia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 161 people with the name Senobia, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #43,643 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 Senobia 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 Senobia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Senobia leans strongly female. 163 people counted with this name were female (98.2%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.8%). 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 Senobia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Senobia is Hispanic at 60.9%. The next largest groups are Black (35.4%) and White (1.2%). 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 Senobia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Senobia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 60.9% (98 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 Senobia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Senobia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Senobia 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 Senobia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Senobia 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 Senobia 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 Senobia?
Want to know how many people have the name Senobia? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.