# Portia (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/portia/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | girls |
| Origin | Latin |
| Meaning | “pig” |
| Pronunciation | /ˈpɔɹ.ʃə/, 2 syllables |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 10,635 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 8 / 10,627 (100% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 498, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

From Latin Porcia, a feminine form of the gens name Porcius (the gens of the Cato the Elder and his famous descendants), from porcus (“pig”). The moon is named for the character in The Merchant of Venice.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 65 | 2,719 |
| 2012 | 52 | 3,201 |
| 2013 | 55 | 3,036 |
| 2014 | 52 | 3,177 |
| 2015 | 42 | 3,691 |
| 2016 | 29 | 4,816 |
| 2017 | 26 | 5,149 |
| 2018 | 21 | 5,958 |
| 2019 | 27 | 5,006 |
| 2020 | 21 | 5,806 |
| 2021 | 7 | 13,166 |
| 2022 | 8 | 11,983 |
| 2023 | 15 | 7,558 |
| 2024 | 20 | 6,107 |
| 2025 | 14 | 7,803 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1989 | 8 | 6,078 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2010 | 12 | 2,104 |
| 2011 | 9 | 2,636 |
| 2012 | 7 | 3,285 |
| 2013 | 20 | 1,537 |
| 2014 | 13 | 2,058 |
| 2015 | 12 | 2,195 |
| 2016 | 17 | 1,749 |
| 2017 | 9 | 2,706 |
| 2018 | 8 | 2,901 |
| 2019 | 8 | 2,869 |
| 2020 | 4 | 4,535 |
| 2021 | 4 | 4,634 |
| 2022 | 7 | 3,148 |
| 2023 | 3 | 5,687 |
| 2024 | 3 | 5,891 |

## People named Portia

- Portia de Rossi, Australian-American actress
- Portia Simpson-Miller, former prime minister of Jamaica
- Portia Doubleday, American actress
- Portia White, Canadian opera singer (1911-1968)
- Portia Perez, Canadian professional wrestler

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.