Symphony
A feminine given name borrowed from Greek meaning "harmonious composition".
Name Census estimates that about 3,102 living Americans carry the first name Symphony. It is a predominantly female name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Symphony today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Symphony births was 2022 (184 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Symphony. 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 Symphony with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Symphony is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.1K
~ 1 in 110,495 Americans
Peak year
2022
184 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2023 SSA rank
#1,498
Tracked since 1979
Census
Symphony in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,919 people with the first name Symphony, which placed it at #7,783 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
#7,783
National first-name rank
People counted
1.9K
1,919 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
45.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Symphony
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Symphony is Black at 45.9%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Hispanic (18.1%). 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 Symphony 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 Symphony at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American45.9% · 880
- White22.2% · 426
- Hispanic or Latino18.1% · 348
- Two or more races9.7% · 186
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.0% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Symphony
Out of the 3,140 babies given the name Symphony since 1880, 99.1% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Symphony as a male name
- Ranked #7,666 in 2023
- 11 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2022 (12 births)
Symphony as a female name
- Ranked #1,498 in 2024
- 145 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (172 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Symphony appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,924 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Symphony: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Symphony from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,302 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Symphony remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Symphony 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 Symphony during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Symphonys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 26 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Symphony, while Wisconsin, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 63 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Symphony
The name Symphony is a relatively modern word derived from the Greek word 'symphonia', which means a harmonious sound or agreement of sounds. It originated in the late 16th century when the musical form of the same name was developed in Italy. The term 'symphony' was initially used to describe a musical composition for a small ensemble, typically played as an introduction to an opera or other larger work.
As the symphony evolved into a more substantial and independent musical form in the 18th and 19th centuries, particularly with the contributions of composers like Joseph Haydn, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, and Ludwig van Beethoven, the name Symphony gained popularity as a given name. It symbolized the beauty, complexity, and harmony of music, and was likely first used as a name to honor or express an appreciation for this art form.
One of the earliest recorded instances of Symphony being used as a given name was in 1826, when the American poet and essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson named his daughter Symphony. Emerson was known for his love of nature and his belief in the interconnectedness of all things, which may have influenced his choice of this harmonious name.
Another notable figure named Symphony was Symphony Harmony Rishell, an American artist and illustrator born in 1922. She was known for her vibrant and whimsical illustrations, often featuring themes of nature and folklore. Her unique name reflected her parents' interests in music and harmony.
In the realm of music, the composer and conductor Symphony Sid Saunders (1909-1988) was a pioneer of radio broadcasting and an influential figure in promoting jazz and other musical genres. His name was a testament to his passion for music and his desire to bring harmony to the airwaves.
The name Symphony has also been used in literature, such as in the character of Symphony Dalcroze, a young musician in the novel "The Time Traveler's Wife" by Audrey Niffenegger, published in 2003. The name was likely chosen to reflect the character's musical talents and her connection to the harmony and rhythm of life.
While not as common as some other names, Symphony has been a unique and meaningful choice for parents throughout history, reflecting their appreciation for music, harmony, and the arts. It is a name that celebrates the beauty and complexity of sound, and serves as a reminder of the power of creative expression.
People
Symphony + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Symphony 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
Symphony: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Symphony?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,102 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Symphony 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 110,495 US residents.
Is Symphony a common name?
We classify Symphony as "Rare". It ranks above 95.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,140 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Symphony most popular?
The single biggest year for Symphony was 2022, when 184 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Symphony is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Symphony in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,919 people with the name Symphony, or 0.64 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,783 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 Symphony 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 Symphony?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Symphony appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,924 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Symphony?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Symphony is Black at 45.9%. The next largest groups are White (22.2%) and Hispanic (18.1%). 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 Symphony most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Symphony in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.9% (880 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 Symphony in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Symphony a female name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Symphony 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 Symphony still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Symphony 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 Symphony 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 people are called Symphony?
See how many people share the name Symphony on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.