How Many People Are Named Minerva?
An estimated 7,382 people in the United States have the first name Minerva. It is almost exclusively a female name. The average bearer is 50 years old, and Minerva peaked in popularity in 1955 with 221 births that year.
Below you will find a full statistical profile of Minerva 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 Minerva paired with any surname.
Estimated Living Americans
7,382
About 1 in 46,431 people in the U.S.
Rarity
Rare
Predicted Gender
Female
100.0% confidence
Average Age
50
years old
Peak Year
1955
221 births
Total Registered
15,734
since 1880
Gender Distribution for Minerva
Minerva is almost exclusively a female name. Out of 15,734 total births registered, 100.0% were female.
Minerva as a female name
Ranked #2,446 in 2024
74 female births in 2024
Peak: 1955 (221 births)
Minerva: Popularity Over Time
SSA records for Minerva span from the 1880s to the 2020s, covering 15 decades of naming data. The most popular decade for this name was the 1950s, when 1,874 babies were registered. Minerva has declined significantly from its peak in the 1950s. Recent registrations are a fraction of what they were at the name's height.
Minerva by Decade
How has Minerva 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.
Minerva by State
Birth registrations for Minerva span all 35 states and territories in the SSA database. The highest counts are in Texas, California, New York. The lowest are in South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa. On average, about 266 Minervas were registered per state.
Minerva + Last Name Combinations
How many people share a full name with Minerva as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Names Similar to Minerva
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
Minerva: Questions and Answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Minerva?
We estimate approximately 7,382 people named Minerva 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 46,431 Americans share this first name.
Is Minerva a common name?
Minerva is classified as "Rare" and is more popular than 97.2% of all first names in the SSA database. A total of 15,734 births have been registered with this name since 1880.
When was Minerva most popular?
Minerva reached peak popularity in 1955, when 221 babies were given this name. The average age of a living person named Minerva is approximately 50 years old, reflecting when the name was most commonly given.
Is Minerva a female name?
Minerva is predominantly female. 100.0% of people with this name are female. See the gender breakdown above for full details.
How many Minerva Smiths are there?
To find how many people share a specific full name, we combine first name and surname frequencies. Try: Minerva Smith, Minerva Johnson, Minerva 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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