Pelagia

Girls' name

Feminine form of Pelagius

Pelagia has been given to 91 babies in the U.S. since 1886. It was used fewer than 5 times in 2025, so it doesn't appear in the latest year's list — today it's a genuinely uncommon pick. Its peak year was 1916, with 10 recorded.

Babies named Pelagia, 2019

1 in 694,000

Pelagia over time, 1880–2025

Girls

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Pelagia: meaning, origin, and history

Feminine form of Pelagius

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Pelagia means

Pelagia is a feminine form of Pelagius.

Documented naming usage and pronunciation

Pelagia is used in Ancient Greek, Greek and Polish (Rare).

Another recorded pronunciation is /pɛ.ˈla.ɡja/ for Pelagia.

Meaning behind the documented name family

The name developed through Pelagia → Pelagius. The family’s meaning is “of the sea”, recorded in English with the source elements pelágios.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Borrowed from Latin Pelagia, from Ancient Greek Πελαγία (Pelagía). Doublet of Pelagie.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Pelagia (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Pelagia is used in English, Italian, Latin and Polish.

Pelagia comes through Latin Pelagia and Ancient Greek Πελαγία.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Pelagius and Pelagie.

Pronunciation and spelling

In Italian, Pelagia is pronounced /peˈla.d͡ʒa/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 91 girls were recorded with the name Pelagia between 1886 and 2019. Its highest annual count was 10 in 1916; its best national rank was #1,078 in 1886.

How common is Pelagia?

Pelagia had fewer than 5 recorded uses in 2025, so these figures use 2019, the last year it was published.

Among all babies, 2019: 1 in 694,000; 5 of 3,472,229 births
Among girls only: 1 in 336,000; <0.01% of girls
Rank, 2019: Unranked; Fewer than 5 uses
Coin-flip room size: 481,354 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Pelagia sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Olivia (13,544)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2019 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 481,354 children born in 2019 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Pelagia. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Pelagias were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Pelagia was born before 1918 — so the typical Pelagia is around 107 today.

Median birth year: 1918; About 107 years old
Biggest decade: 1910s; 34.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 17.6%; Spread across generations
Recorded since 1950: 21; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

1910s — 34.1% of all recorded uses (31).

Is Pelagia rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: —; Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago: New entry; Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago: —; Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago: —; Not published both years
Share of its own peak: 0%; Peak was 1916 (10)
Years since peak: 109; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 60.0% average annual change
Best rank ever: #1,078; 1886

Spellings of Pelagia

Pelagia is not the most common spelling — Melania is, with 97.5% against Pelagia's 2.5%.

Melania97.5%3,573
Pelagia2.5%91

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Pelagia around the world

Where Pelagia ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

England & Wales
2010–2022
#5,670
in 2022
France
1912–1933
#1,046
in 1933
South Australia
1959–1991
#669
in 1991

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Pelagia by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025: Unranked
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: —
Best rank ever: #1,078; 1886
Peak year: 1916; 10 that year
First recorded: 1886
Last recorded: 2019
All-time count: 91
Count in 2025: Under 5

Names similar to Pelagia

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Jeorgia Pelia Eulogia Giorgia Pella Pelin Tangia Jorgia Pele Lygia Pelma Margia Tongia Algia Vergia Pellie Refugia Geargia Elgia Remigia Gerogia Angia Latongia Pela

Sibling names for Pelagia

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Era Leatha Leone Artie Alpha Hettie Cecil Ona

For a brother

Winfield Dorsey Isadore Aloysius Hyman Regis Sydney Meyer

Explore around Pelagia

Top names of 1916, Pelagia's peak year The 1910s in full Other names that peaked in 1886 Girls' names starting with P