Zelphia — girls' name
414 babies named Zelphia in U.S. Social Security records since 1886, with the highest year being 1921. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
30% of everyone ever named Zelphia was born in this single decade.
19 babies were named Zelphia in 1921 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Zelphia
The Social Security Administration has registered 414 babies named Zelphia between 1886 and 1970, spanning 85 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a girl's name, Zelphia currently falls outside the top 1,000 girls' names for 1970. The name reached its historical peak in 1921, when 19 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Zelphia performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 126 births during that ten-year window. Across the 10 decades of recorded activity, Zelphia shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in Kentucky, which accounts for 5 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by . In total, SSA state-level files list Zelphia in 1 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Zelphia in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 414 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Zelphia at a glance
Last recorded 1970Peak year
Current rank
Active since
Zelphia popularity over time
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1970–1886
- Peak year (1921)
- 19
- Annual births at peak — across 85 years of records
No longer in the modern top-1000 — last recorded 1970.
414 total births across 85 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1921 with 19 births in a single year.
Zelphia by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1920s
- 126 births that decade — 30% of Zelphia's all-time total
Zelphia decade highlights
- Peak decade 126 births
- Runner-up 81 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1920s was Zelphia's strongest decade
126 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 30% of all-time use.
Zelphia by state
Where Zelphia concentrates geographically — total births since 1886
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Kentucky | | 5 | 1.2% |
5 of 414 births nationwide.
Top 5 states
- Kentucky 1.2% of nationwide
Recorded in 1 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
Kentucky accounts for 1.2% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1886–1970 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.