How rare is the name Athena?

32,200 people in the United States have the first name Athena, about 1 in 9,380. It ranks #1,207 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census, tied with 1 other.

first name

ATHENA

#1,207

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
32,200
About
1 in 9,380
This common or more
72.6%
Who bears it

Of the 32,200 people named Athena, 49.7% reported their origin as White, 27% as Hispanic or Latino and 8.7% as two or more races. Virtually all are female (99.9%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Athena peaked in 2022, when 3,029 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19022025
Peak year
2022
Births that year
3,029
In 2025*
2,477 ▼18%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 53,118 babies have been given the name since 1902. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Athena by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 2020s, when it ranked #242. The largest share of babies named Athena, 59.6%, were born in 2013 or later.

1900s#3,75917
1910s#2,821183
1920s#2,174416
1930s#2,744245
1940s#3,359203
1950s#1,904786
1960s#1,4311,517
1970s#1,1202,588
1980s#1,1382,964
1990s#1,2663,191
2000s#9156,169
2010s#38918,303
2020s#24216,536
Greatest Generation 1901–271%
Silent Generation 1928–450.8%
Baby boom 1946–643%
Generation X 1965–807%
Millennials 1981–968.6%
Generation Z 1997–1220%
2013 and later59.6%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Athena is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Athena has been most common in Nevada (4.4×), Arizona (2.8×), and Alaska (2.6×), and least common in District of Columbia (0.15×).

49,063 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Exactly as common as Athena

1 other first name also has 32,200 people.

Spelled almost the same

6 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Athena, most common first.

Compare