girl's name
Pia
PEE-ah
- Origin Latin
- Gender Girl
- Syllables 2
- Letters 3
- Popularity Uncommon
- Births on record 9,587
France
#197
2025 births
Pia is a girl's name from Latin meaning dutiful or devout, the feminine of Pius. It ranks 197th in France, and it reached its highest recorded level in 2024, some 119 years after it first appears in our records.
- Pia is a name of Latin origin.
- Peaked in France in 2024, when 335 babies were given the name.
- It has been rising over the past decade in France.
- Today about 1 in 1,998 babies in France is given this name.
- First appears in birth records in 1905.
- 2 syllables, with the stress on syllable 1.
Pia over time
Births per decade in France, 1900s to 2020s. The striped bar is the 2020s, still in progress — it covers 2020 to 2025, not a full ten years.
Show the numbers
| Decade | Births |
|---|---|
| 1900s | 15 |
| 1910s | 35 |
| 1920s | 60 |
| 1930s | 65 |
| 1940s | 60 |
| 1950s | 140 |
| 1960s | 195 |
| 1970s | 70 |
| 1980s | 145 |
| 1990s | 255 |
| 2000s | 435 |
| 2010s | 1,145 |
| 2020s (to 2025) | 1,645 |
What Pia means
Pia means dutiful, devout or reverent. The Latin sense is closer to loyalty owed to family and gods than to piety in the modern religious sense.
Where Pia comes from
Pia is the feminine of the Latin pius, an adjective covering duty to family, country and the gods together. Virgil's standing epithet for Aeneas is pius Aeneas, and what it praises is a man who carries his father out of a burning city — obligation honored rather than faith professed. The word gave the papal name Pius, borne by twelve popes, and the feminine circulated as a given name in Italy and Scandinavia. Pia is also used independently as a short form of names ending in -pia, but its own Latin adjective is the older and better-attested source.
Pia in use
Pia ranks 197th in France on 300 births and peaked in France in 2024, when 335 babies were registered. Our records carry it from 1905, so the peak arrives 119 years after the name first appears — one of the longest runs before a high point among names in the current French top 200. It is rising in our data and also charts in Ireland at 277th, England and Wales at 678th and the United States at 1455th, on 9,301 lifetime births.
How popular is Pia?
In 2025, Pia was given to 295 babies in France, ranking #197 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Where Pia is used
French counts are rounded to the nearest five and nothing below five is published, so these figures show the shape of the name's use rather than an exact tally. Data & sources.
How Pia is spelled
Birth registers count each spelling separately, so every one has its own ranking.
| Spelling | What it is | Births on record |
|---|---|---|
| Pïa | Pïa is a rare spelling of Pia, written with a diaeresis and recorded about 30 times, mostly in France. | 30 |
Names that peaked alongside Pia
These names rose and fell in the same era, which is why they tend to sound like they belong together.
Parents who like Pia also like
Names whose popularity has risen and fallen in step with Pia over the last century — the same taste, a different name.
Pia in other languages
The same name as it is spelled elsewhere — not shortenings, and not different names that merely sound alike. Each one has its own record here.
Sibling names for Pia
Names from the same era that won't rhyme or share an initial with Pia — the two things that make a sibling set grate.
Common questions about Pia
What does the name Pia mean?
Dutiful or devout — it is the feminine of the Latin pius.
Is Pia a religious name?
The Latin sense is duty owed to family and gods rather than faith specifically, though it shares a root with the papal name Pius.
Where is Pia used?
It ranks 197th in France and also charts in Ireland, England and Wales and the United States.
How do you say Pia?
PEE-ah, in two syllables.
How popular is the name Pia?
In 2025, Pia was given to 295 babies in France, ranking #197 that year. It is used consistently but remains uncommon.
Is Pia a girl's or a boy's name?
Pia is given almost entirely to girls in birth records.
How many syllables are in Pia?
Pia has 2 syllables.
When was Pia most popular?
Pia peaked in 2024, when 335 babies were given the name. It has been rising over the past decade.
Is Pia a good name?
That is not something records can settle, but they can tell you what you would be choosing. Pia currently ranks #197 in France. It has been rising over the past decade. Everything else — how it sounds with your surname, who it reminds you of — is yours.