Anicia
Feminine
The oldest surviving illustrated scientific book was made for a woman called Anicia. Anicia Juliana was a Byzantine noblewoman of imperial descent, and around the year 512 the citizens of a Constantinople suburb presented her with a copy of Dioscorides on medicinal plants, painted throughout — the manuscript still exists in Vienna, and her portrait is in it.
How old is the name Anicia?
Anicia first appears in US birth records in 1967 — 58 years ago. The typical Anicia alive today was born around 2000, making them about 25 years old. About 600 people named Anicia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Anicia most popular?
Anicia peaked in 2003, reaching #4418 nationally. Today it ranks #14942, 10,524 places below that high. See the whole 2003 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Anicius to Anicia
The story of Anicia
The Anicii were among the wealthiest and most durable Roman families, producing consuls, a pope and eventually Anicia Juliana — who was born in Constantinople to a Western emperor's daughter, funded churches, and was formidable enough that Justinian took an interest. The manuscript made for her is one of the treasures of late antiquity. The name survived in Italian and Spanish use and reached American records in 1967, always rare.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Anicia was a Roman family name and, like most of them, has no recoverable meaning — the gens Anicia was one of the great senatorial houses of the late empire, and its name is older than any explanation of it. Modern name books occasionally connect it to Ana, which is a resemblance rather than a derivation.
How the name formed
- Anicius
- Anicia
Related forms: Anicia · Anicia · Anicia
Pronouncing Anicia
uh-NEE-shuh
Three syllables, stress in the middle, with the ci said as sh — following English, which does that in special and delicious. Latin would have said a hard k and Spanish says a plain s.
Nicknames for Anicia
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1967
- Most girls named
- 200329 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #4418reached in 2003
- Change vs 2024
- −16.7%5 in 2025, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Anicia in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Anicia in Latin — same name
- Anicia in Italian — same name
- Anicia in Spanish — same name
Anicias among us
people named Anicia are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 321,453 born in 2025 was named Anicia
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Anicia
- #14942
- Anicia on the 2025 chart
- #933
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Anicia went to 5 girls in 2025, but Anisia, Anycia and Anysia are the same name said out loud. Together the 4 spellings went to 27, which makes it the 933rd most-given girls’ name of the year — 14,009 places above the chart.
- Anisia8
- Anycia7
- Anysia7
- Anicia5
About 1 girl in 59,528 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 321,453 for Anicia itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Sandhya test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Anicia's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Sandhya climbed just as high around 1969, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Sandhya's path sketches the road Anicia is walking now.
Anicia sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Anicia beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Anicia in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It has a genuinely remarkable historical bearer and a manuscript that still exists.
- Ani is available as a short form and is a real name in several traditions.
- Three open syllables that sit well after almost any surname.
- It is very rare, so a child will not meet another.
- Its meaning cannot be given, since Roman family names generally have none.
- Anisha, Anicia and Anitia all sit close by and will be confused.
- The middle consonant is said three different ways in three languages.
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What they receive
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Anicia
Feminine · #14942 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Anicias are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 600 people named Anicia are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Anicia?
- Anicia is one of 4 recorded spellings. Anisia is the more common one — 8 births in 2025 against 5 for Anicia.
- How popular is the name Anicia in 2025?
- Anicia ranks #14942 among US girl names in 2025, with 5 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Anicia?
- About 1 in every 321,453 US girls born in 2025 was named Anicia — 5 in all.
- Will my child share the name Anicia with classmates?
- Anicia will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Anicia
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hester#14942 · Lyda#14942 · Zula#14942 · Zona#14942 · Ula#14942 · Belva#14942 · Lucetta#14942 · Leala#14942
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Anicia? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Anicia and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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