How Many People Are Named Cornelia?
An estimated 6,196 people in the United States have the first name Cornelia. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 61 years old, and Cornelia peaked in popularity in 1921 with 477 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Cornelia as a first name in the United States, including gender data, a year-by-year popularity timeline going back to 1880, a decade breakdown, and state-by-state birth registrations. You can also check how many people share the full name Cornelia paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
6,196
About 1 in 55,319 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
99.9% confidence
Average Age
61
years old
Peak Year
1921
477 births
Total Registered
22,051
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Cornelia
Cornelia is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 22,051 total births registered, 99.9% were female.
Cornelia as a male name
Ranked #4,155 in 1963
5 male births in 1963
Peak: 1925 (8 births)
Cornelia as a female name
Ranked #3,824 in 2024
39 female births in 2024
Peak: 1921 (477 births)
Cornelia: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Cornelia span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1920s, when 3,965 babies were registered. Cornelia has declined significantly from its peak in the 1920s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Cornelia by Decade
How has Cornelia tracked across different eras? The table below groups all SSA birth registrations into 10-year periods, with separate male and female counts. The colored bar shows each decade's share relative to the peak.
| Decade | Total | Male | Female | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1880s | 1,020 | 0 | 1,020 | |
| 1890s | 1,332 | 0 | 1,332 | |
| 1900s | 1,630 | 0 | 1,630 | |
| 1910s | 3,455 | 0 | 3,455 | |
| 1920s | 3,965 | 14 | 3,951 | |
| 1930s | 2,738 | 7 | 2,731 | |
| 1940s | 2,509 | 0 | 2,509 | |
| 1950s | 1,813 | 0 | 1,813 | |
| 1960s | 1,315 | 5 | 1,310 | |
| 1970s | 700 | 0 | 700 | |
| 1980s | 526 | 0 | 526 | |
| 1990s | 320 | 0 | 320 | |
| 2000s | 228 | 0 | 228 | |
| 2010s | 293 | 0 | 293 | |
| 2020s | 207 | 0 | 207 | |
Cornelia by State
Birth registrations for Cornelia span all 37 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in New York, North Carolina, Georgia. The lowest are in Washington, Nebraska, South Dakota. On average, about 376 Cornelias were registered per state.
Cornelia + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Cornelia as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Cornelia
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
Cornelia: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Cornelia?
We estimate approximately 6,196 people named Cornelia are alive in the United States today. This is based on SSA birth records from 1880 to 2024, adjusted for mortality using CDC life tables. About 1 in 55,319 Americans share this first name.
Is Cornelia a common name?
Cornelia is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 96.9% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 22,051 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Cornelia most popular?
Cornelia reached peak popularity in 1921, when 477 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Cornelia is approximately 61 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Cornelia a female name?
Cornelia is predominantly female. 99.9% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Cornelia Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Cornelia Smith, Cornelia Johnson, Cornelia Williams. You can also search any combination on our homepage.
Where does this data come from?
Our estimates use Social Security Administration birth records (1880 to 2024), adjusted for survival using CDC 2023 life tables broken down by sex. The U.S. population figure (342,754,338) is from the Census Bureau's July 2025 estimate. Full methodology.
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