Undine
A feminine name derived from the Latin word for "wave", associated with water nymphs.
Name Census estimates that about 2 living Americans carry the first name Undine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Undine today is around 108 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Undine births was 1924 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Undine. 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 Undine is about 108 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Undines were born before 1928.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Undine. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
2
~ 1 in 171,377,169 Americans
Peak year
1924
10 babies that year
Average age
108
years old
1935 SSA rank
#4,167
Tracked since 1912
Census
Undine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 122 people with the first name Undine, which placed it at #49,985 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
#49,985
National first-name rank
People counted
122
122 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Undine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Undine is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.2%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Undine 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 Undine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.7% · 68
- Black or African American35.2% · 43
- Hispanic or Latino4.9% · 6
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 3
- Two or more races1.6% · 2
Popularity
Undine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Undine from the 1910s through to the 1930s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1910s, with 46 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1910s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Undine 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 Undine 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 Undine
The given name Undine has its origins in the German language, derived from the word "Undin" or "Undine", which refers to a type of water nymph or female nature spirit associated with rivers, streams, and other bodies of water. This name gained popularity in Western Europe during the late Middle Ages and Renaissance period.
The name first appeared in the literature of the 16th century, specifically in the 1811 novella "Undine" by Friedrich de la Motte Fouqué. The story revolves around the character Undine, a water spirit who falls in love with a human knight and gains a soul through her love for him. This work played a significant role in popularizing the name and associating it with the themes of water, nature, and the supernatural.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Undine can be found in the German author and philosopher Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz's work "Protogaea" published in 1693. Leibniz used the term "Undine" to describe a type of elementary spirit associated with water.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Undine. One example is Undine Spragg, an American silent film actress active in the early 20th century, known for her roles in films such as "The Forbidden Woman" (1920) and "The Sting of the Lash" (1923).
Another prominent figure was Undine Winkle, a Canadian author and journalist born in 1901. She wrote several books, including "Granny's Wonderful Chair" and "The Woodcutters" which explored themes of nature and rural life.
In the realm of classical music, Undine Smith Moore (1904-1989) was an influential African American composer and teacher. Her works, such as the choral suite "Scenes from the Life of a Martyr", celebrated the African American experience and drew inspiration from spirituals and folk music.
The name Undine also appeared in the world of dance with Undine Fairchild, an American ballet dancer and choreographer born in 1915. She performed with companies like the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo and later founded her own dance troupe.
Lastly, Undine Krissler (1900-1953) was a German painter and graphic artist, known for her expressionist portraits and landscapes. She was part of the Neue Sachlichkeit (New Objectivity) movement in German art during the Weimar Republic period.
People
Undine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Undine as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with U
Other first names starting with U with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Undine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Undine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Undine 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 171,377,169 US residents.
Is Undine a common name?
We classify Undine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 4.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 95 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Undine most popular?
The single biggest year for Undine was 1924, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Undine is about 108 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Undine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 122 people with the name Undine, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,985 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 Undine 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 Undine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Undine leans strongly female. 124 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 3 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Undine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Undine is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Black (35.2%) and Hispanic (4.9%). 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 Undine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Undine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.7% (68 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 Undine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Undine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Undine 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 Undine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Undine 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 Undine 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 named Undine?
Find out how many Americans are named Undine on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.