Xochitl
A feminine Mexican name of Nahuatl origin meaning "flower".
Name Census estimates that about 5,724 living Americans carry the first name Xochitl. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Xochitl today is around 23 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xochitl births was 2024 (221 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xochitl. 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
5.7K
~ 1 in 59,880 Americans
Peak year
2024
221 babies that year
Average age
23
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,105
Tracked since 1955
Census
Xochitl in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,517 people with the first name Xochitl, which placed it at #2,986 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
#2,986
National first-name rank
People counted
7.5K
7,517 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xochitl
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xochitl is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Xochitl 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 Xochitl at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.5% · 7,332
- White1.4% · 107
- Black or African American0.3% · 26
- Two or more races0.3% · 24
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 17
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 11
Popularity
Xochitl: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xochitl from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 1,659 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Xochitl remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Xochitl 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 Xochitl during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Xochitls live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Xochitl, while Oklahoma, New Jersey, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 263 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Xochitl
The name Xochitl originates from the Nahuatl language, spoken by the Aztecs and other indigenous peoples of Mexico and Central America. Nahuatl has been spoken since at least the 7th century AD.
Xochitl literally translates to "flower" or "blossom" in Nahuatl. It comes from the Nahuatl word xochitl, which refers to various flowering plants, particularly those that were culturally significant in Aztec and other Mesoamerican civilizations.
The name Xochitl is found in ancient Aztec texts, including the Codex Xolotl, which dates back to the 16th century. It was a common name given to Aztec women, often with particular flowers or plants added as a modifier, such as Xochipilli (Blossom of the Prince) or Xochicuahuitl (Flower Tree).
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Xochitl was Xochitl, the daughter of Nezahualcoyotl, the legendary tlatoani (ruler) of the city-state of Texcoco in the 15th century. She was known for her beauty and her tragic love story with Ixlilxochitl, the heir to the throne of Texcoco.
In the 16th century, Xochitl was the name of a noble woman from the Tlaxcala region, who played a pivotal role in the Spanish conquest of Mexico by serving as an interpreter and cultural mediator between the Spanish and the indigenous peoples.
Another notable figure with the name Xochitl was Xochitl Gálvez, a Mexican indigenous rights activist and environmentalist who lived from 1912 to 2004. She was a prominent figure in the struggle for the preservation of indigenous cultures and the protection of natural resources in Mexico.
In the realm of literature, Xochitl is the name of a character in the novel "The Rain God" by Arturo Islas, published in 1984. The novel explores themes of cultural identity, family relationships, and the experience of Mexican-Americans in the United States.
Xochitl Gonzalez, born in 1976, is a contemporary Mexican-American writer and activist known for her work on issues of race, gender, and social justice. Her debut novel, "Olinguito Speaks Up," published in 2021, has received critical acclaim for its exploration of identity and belonging.
People
Xochitl + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xochitl as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xochitl: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xochitl?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,724 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xochitl 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 59,880 US residents.
Is Xochitl a common name?
We classify Xochitl as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,895 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xochitl most popular?
The single biggest year for Xochitl was 2024, when 221 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xochitl 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 Xochitl in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,517 people with the name Xochitl, or 2.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,986 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 Xochitl 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 Xochitl?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xochitl appears almost entirely female. Of the 7,510 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Xochitl?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xochitl is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.4%) and Black (0.3%). 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 Xochitl most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Xochitl in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (7,332 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 Xochitl in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xochitl a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xochitl 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 Xochitl still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xochitl 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 Xochitl 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 Xochitl?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people have the name Xochitl at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.