How rare is the name Santa?

10,149 people in the United States have the first name Santa, about 1 in 29,760. It ranks #2,443 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

SANTA

#2,443

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
10,149
About
1 in 29,760
This common or more
79.8%
Who bears it

Of the 10,149 people named Santa, 79.4% reported their origin as Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% as White and 5.1% as Asian or Pacific Islander. 95.3% are female. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Santa peaked in 1915, when 90 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18962025
Peak year
1915
Births that year
90
In 2025*
13 ▼86%
Recorded as
almost entirely female

At least 4,410 babies have been given the name since 1896. 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.

Santa by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1910s, when it ranked #1,459. The largest share of babies named Santa, 29%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1890s#3,26612
1900s#2,06488
1910s#1,459572
1920s#1,568744
1930s#1,935453
1940s#2,372386
1950s#2,449482
1960s#2,755453
1970s#3,201444
1980s#5,123276
1990s#7,672216
2000s#15,055113
2010s#17,08397
2020s#14,16474
Before 19010.4%
Greatest Generation 1901–2729%
Silent Generation 1928–4517.8%
Baby boom 1946–6420.2%
Generation X 1965–8016%
Millennials 1981–969%
Generation Z 1997–124.4%
2013 and later3.2%

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 Santa is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Santa has been most common in New York (6.4×), Texas (3.5×), and Massachusetts (1.5×), and least common in California (0.63×).

2,512 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.

Either side of Santa

#2,441 Darien · 10,157#2,441 Hollis · 10,157#2,444 Sullivan · 10,147#2,445 Shaina · 10,144

Spelled almost the same

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

#4,272 Santo · 4,448#9,486 Sanda · 1,462#11,002 Santi · 1,184#21,789 Sanita · 463#21,875 Santia · 460#26,290 Sante · 355#28,312 Santha · 318#29,690 Santy · 297

Also a last name

As a last name, Santa ranks #12,466 of 156,621, with 2,376 people. See Santa as a last name

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