Holding steady.
Popularity of Florida since 1880
Babies named Florida per year in U.S. Social Security records. Raw births topped out in 1925, but relative to how few babies were recorded back then, Florida's real moment was 1888.
Data table (by decade)
| Decade | Girls |
|---|---|
| 1880s | 183 |
| 1890s | 335 |
| 1900s | 390 |
| 1910s | 588 |
| 1920s | 754 |
| 1930s | 501 |
| 1940s | 380 |
| 1950s | 218 |
| 1960s | 86 |
| 1970s | 62 |
| 1980s | 18 |
| 1990s | 12 |
| 2000s | 0 |
| 2010s | 0 |
| 2020s | 0 |
Meaning & origin
Florida first appeared in U.S. birth records in 1880, the earliest year for which Social Security data is available. It reached its peak popularity in 1888, making it a distinctly 19th-century choice. Though the name has enjoyed occasional use since, it has never returned to its 1880s level of usage and is now exceptionally rare, with fewer than five annual births in most recent years. The name holds a gentle, floral quality through its Latin root flos, flower, and is a direct borrowing of the Spanish word florido. For parents drawn to state-inspired names, Florida fits alongside better-known examples like Georgia or Virginia, though it remains far less common.
Florida derives from the Spanish adjective florido, meaning 'flowery' or 'flourishing', itself from Latin floridus (blooming). The name was first recorded as a given name in the United States in the 1880s, directly taken from the state name. It saw modest use in the late 19th and early 20th centuries but has since become rare as a personal name.
Nicknames & variants
Nicknames: Flo, Rida, Lori
Sibling names for Florida
Names that share Florida's style, for a brother or sister.
