Sevilla
Of Spanish origin, meaning "the lovely place".
Name Census estimates that about 128 living Americans carry the first name Sevilla. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Sevilla today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Sevilla births was 1915 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Sevilla. 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.
People living today
128
~ 1 in 2,677,768 Americans
Peak year
1915
10 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#14,952
Tracked since 1892
Census
Sevilla in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 292 people with the first name Sevilla, which placed it at #30,039 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
#30,039
National first-name rank
People counted
292
292 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Sevilla
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sevilla is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.8%). 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 Sevilla 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 Sevilla at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.3% · 138
- Hispanic or Latino22.6% · 66
- Asian and Pacific Islander17.8% · 52
- Black or African American9.6% · 28
- Two or more races2.4% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Sevilla: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Sevilla from the 1890s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 46 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Sevilla remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Sevilla 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 Sevilla during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Sevillas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Sevilla
The name Sevilla is derived from the Spanish city of Seville, which was originally known as Hispalis during Roman times. The name is believed to have its roots in the Phoenician language, with the word "shpal" meaning "flat land" or "plain." This is likely a reference to the geographic location of the city, situated on the flat plains of the Guadalquivir River.
Seville has a rich history dating back to the 8th century BC when it was founded as a Phoenician colony. The city later came under the rule of the Romans, Visigoths, and Moors, each culture leaving its mark on the city's architecture, cuisine, and traditions. During the Moorish period, the city was known as Ishbiliya, a name that may have influenced the later Spanish spelling of Sevilla.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Sevilla can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Pliny the Elder, who mentioned the city in his work "Naturalis Historia" in the 1st century AD. The name also appears in various medieval texts and chronicles, reflecting the city's importance as a cultural and economic center during the Moorish and Christian periods.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Sevilla. One of the earliest was Isidore of Seville (c. 560-636 AD), a scholar and Archbishop of Seville who is considered one of the last scholars of the ancient world. His encyclopedic work, "Etymologiae," was a significant contribution to the preservation of classical knowledge during the Middle Ages.
Another prominent figure was Rodrigo de Sevilla (c. 1200-1260), a Spanish sculptor and architect who worked on the Cathedral of Seville and other important buildings in the city. His intricate stone carvings and architectural designs are considered masterpieces of the Mudéjar style, a blend of Moorish and Christian influences.
In the 16th century, Sebastián de Sevilla (c. 1490-1550) was a Spanish composer and musician who served as the maestro de capilla at the Cathedral of Seville. His works, including motets and masses, were influential in the development of Renaissance music in Spain.
During the Golden Age of Spanish literature, the poet and playwright Lope de Vega (1562-1635) often used the city of Seville as a setting for his works, including the famous play "Fuenteovejuna." His vivid descriptions of Sevillian life and culture have contributed to the city's enduring cultural legacy.
In more recent times, the name Sevilla has been carried by the Spanish artist and sculptor Eduardo Sevilla (1909-1986), whose abstract and surrealist works were exhibited internationally and are held in collections around the world.
People
Sevilla + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Sevilla 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
Sevilla: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Sevilla?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 128 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Sevilla 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 2,677,768 US residents.
Is Sevilla a common name?
We classify Sevilla as "Very Rare". It ranks above 68.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 260 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Sevilla most popular?
The single biggest year for Sevilla was 1915, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Sevilla is about 23 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Sevilla in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 292 people with the name Sevilla, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #30,039 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 Sevilla 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 Sevilla?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Sevilla leans strongly female. 286 people counted with this name were female (98.3%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.7%). 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 Sevilla?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Sevilla is White at 47.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (17.8%). 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 Sevilla most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Sevilla in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.3% (138 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 Sevilla in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Sevilla a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Sevilla 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 Sevilla still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Sevilla 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 Sevilla 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 Sevilla?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.