Unita
A feminine name, possibly a variant of Unity or Unita.
Name Census estimates that about 46 living Americans carry the first name Unita. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Unita today is around 65 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Unita births was 1954 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Unita. 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 Unita is about 65 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Unitas were born before 1971.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Unita. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
46
~ 1 in 7,451,181 Americans
Peak year
1954
12 babies that year
Average age
65
years old
1975 SSA rank
#10,552
Tracked since 1922
Census
Unita in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 167 people with the first name Unita, which placed it at #42,759 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
#42,759
National first-name rank
People counted
167
167 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Unita
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Unita is Black at 66.5%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Unita 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 Unita at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.5% · 111
- White25.7% · 43
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino3.0% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 1
- Two or more races0.6% · 1
Popularity
Unita: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Unita from the 1920s through to the 1970s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 20 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1960s peak, Unita remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Unita 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 Unita 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 Unita
The name Unita is believed to have originated from the Latin word "unitas," which means "unity" or "oneness." This name first appeared during the Renaissance period in Italy, when the concept of unity and harmony was highly valued in the arts, literature, and philosophy.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Unita can be found in a 16th-century Italian play called "La Unita della Chiesa" (The Unity of the Church), written by the playwright and poet Gian Giorgio Trissino. The play explored the idea of unity within the Catholic Church and its teachings.
In the 17th century, Unita became a popular name among Italian nobility and aristocracy, often given to daughters as a symbolic representation of the family's unity and strength. One notable figure from this era was Unita Accoramboni (1590-1619), an Italian noblewoman known for her beauty and intellect.
During the Age of Enlightenment in the 18th century, the name Unita gained popularity across Europe, particularly in France and Germany. It was embraced by intellectuals and philosophers who valued the ideals of unity, reason, and progress. One such figure was Unita von Klettenberg (1723-1788), a German woman who was a close friend and mentor to the famous writer Johann Wolfgang von Goethe.
In the 19th century, the name Unita gained significance in the context of the Italian Unification movement, also known as the Risorgimento. It became a symbol of the unity and independence sought by the Italian states, which were ultimately unified into the Kingdom of Italy in 1861. One notable figure from this period was Unita Garibaldi (1832-1898), the daughter of the famous Italian military leader and revolutionary, Giuseppe Garibaldi.
Another notable Unita from the 19th century was Unita Blackwell (1933-2019), an American civil rights activist and politician from Mississippi. She played a significant role in the civil rights movement and became the first African American woman to be elected mayor in Mississippi in 1976.
The name Unita has continued to be used throughout the 20th and 21st centuries, though it remains relatively uncommon in most countries. Despite its rarity, it continues to carry the symbolic meaning of unity, harmony, and strength, making it a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with historical significance.
People
Unita + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Unita 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
Unita: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Unita?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 46 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Unita 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 7,451,181 US residents.
Is Unita a common name?
We classify Unita as "Very Rare". It ranks above 53.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 84 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Unita most popular?
The single biggest year for Unita was 1954, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Unita is about 65 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Unita in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 167 people with the name Unita, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #42,759 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 Unita 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 Unita?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Unita leans strongly female. 170 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 2 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Unita?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Unita is Black at 66.5%. The next largest groups are White (25.7%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (3.6%). 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 Unita most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Unita in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.5% (111 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 Unita in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Unita a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Unita 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 Unita still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Unita 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 Unita 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 share the name Unita?
Want to know how many Americans are named Unita? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.