Xylia
Of Greek origin, representing a person associated with wood or forests.
Name Census estimates that about 516 living Americans carry the first name Xylia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Xylia today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xylia births was 2014 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xylia. 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 Xylia with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
516
~ 1 in 664,253 Americans
Peak year
2014
41 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,744
Tracked since 1994
Census
Xylia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 356 people with the first name Xylia, which placed it at #26,232 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
#26,232
National first-name rank
People counted
356
356 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xylia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xylia is Hispanic at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Black (21.6%). 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 Xylia 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 Xylia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.2% · 143
- White25.0% · 89
- Black or African American21.6% · 77
- Two or more races7.6% · 27
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.7% · 6
Popularity
Xylia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xylia from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 214 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Xylia remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Xylia 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 Xylia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Xylias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, North Carolina, Texas recorded the most babies named Xylia, while Texas, North Carolina, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Xylia
The name Xylia is of Greek origin, derived from the word "xylon," meaning "wood" or "tree." It is believed to have emerged during the classical period of ancient Greece, around the 5th century BCE.
Xylia was initially used as a feminine name, often associated with the concept of nature, growth, and strength. In Greek mythology, there are references to dryads, tree nymphs who were believed to be the embodiment of specific trees or woodlands.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Xylia can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek historian Herodotus, who mentions a woman named Xylia from the city of Ephesus in his work "The Histories," written around 440 BCE.
During the Hellenistic period, which spanned from the 4th to the 1st century BCE, the name Xylia gained popularity among the Greek-speaking populations of the Mediterranean region. Several notable women from this era bore the name, including Xylia of Corinth (c. 300 BCE), a renowned physician and scholar.
In the Byzantine era, which lasted from the 4th to the 15th century CE, the name Xylia continued to be used, particularly among the Greek-speaking populations of the Byzantine Empire. One notable figure was Xylia Kantakouzene (c. 1345 - 1394), a member of the Byzantine imperial family.
Throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period, the name Xylia remained relatively uncommon in most parts of Europe. However, it experienced a resurgence in popularity during the 18th and 19th centuries, coinciding with the Romantic movement's interest in classical Greek culture and literature.
Notable individuals named Xylia from this period include Xylia Karavia (1790 - 1856), a Greek writer and intellectual who played a significant role in the Greek War of Independence, and Xylia Vaporidou (1843 - 1907), a pioneering Greek educator and feminist.
In more recent times, the name Xylia has been used across various cultures, though it remains relatively rare. Some notable individuals with this name include Xylia Papadopoulou (1915 - 2007), a Greek actress and theater director, and Xylia Ghika (1936 - 2022), a Greek artist and sculptor.
People
Xylia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xylia 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
Xylia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xylia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xylia 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 664,253 US residents.
Is Xylia a common name?
We classify Xylia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 84.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 521 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xylia most popular?
The single biggest year for Xylia was 2014, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xylia is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Xylia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 356 people with the name Xylia, or 0.12 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,232 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 Xylia 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 Xylia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xylia leans strongly female. 351 people counted with this name were female (98.0%), compared with 7 male bearers (2.0%). 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 Xylia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xylia is Hispanic at 40.2%. The next largest groups are White (25.0%) and Black (21.6%). 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 Xylia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Xylia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.2% (143 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 Xylia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xylia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xylia 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 Xylia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xylia 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 Xylia 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 have Xylia as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Xylia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.