Capitola
Feminine · “a coinage by E.D.E.N. Southworth”
Capitola was invented for a novel, and the novel was one of the most read in nineteenth-century America. Its heroine was a quick-witted girl who dressed as a newsboy to survive the streets of New York, and readers loved her enough to name daughters and a California town after her.
How old is the name Capitola?
Capitola first appears in US birth records in 1882 — 143 years ago. The typical Capitola alive today was born around 1915, making them about 110 years old. Fewer than a hundred people named Capitola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
When was the name Capitola most popular?
Capitola peaked in 1884, reaching #686 nationally. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Latin caput to Capitola
The story of Capitola
E.D.E.N. Southworth serialized The Hidden Hand in the New York Ledger, and its heroine, Capitola Black, known as Cap, was a girl raised in poverty who disguised herself as a boy, talked back to villains and rescued other people. The story was reprinted again and again and staged across the country. Families named daughters for her, and on the California coast a seaside camp was named Capitola after the same heroine and grew into a town that still carries the name.
Meaning
a coinage by E.D.E.N. Southworth, on capital or capitol
Capitola was made up by the novelist E.D.E.N. Southworth for the heroine of The Hidden Hand. It echoes capital and capitol, from Latin caput, head, but it was never a word in its own right.
How the name formed
- Latin caput
- CapitolaThe Hidden Hand
- Capitola
Pronouncing Capitola
kap-ih-TOH-luh
Stress on the third syllable, as the California town is said.
Nicknames for Capitola
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
- 1882
- Most girls named
- 191534 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #686reached in 1884
- Change vs 1948
- +20.0%6 in 1956, from 5
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.
Capitolas among us
Fewer than a hundred people named Capitola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Capitola sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a documented literary origin and a heroine who was admired for her courage.
- Cap is a lively, ready short form.
- It is almost never given now, so it is entirely distinctive.
- Most people will think of the California beach town or of the Capitol building before the novel.
- It is long and unfamiliar, so it will need spelling and explaining.
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Capitola
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Capitolas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. Fewer than a hundred people named Capitola are estimated to be alive in the US today — a true one-of-a-kind name.
- How popular is the name Capitola in 2025?
- Capitola is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Capitola with classmates?
- Capitola will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More C names
The most-given names starting with C, all years combined.
Carol#2239 · Cynthia#1013 · Catherine#313 · Christine#1272 · Carolyn#1222 · Christina#770 · Charlotte#2 · Cheryl#4352
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Capitola? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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