The actual execution of females is quite rare, with only about 520 documented cases beginning with the first in 1632. These 520 female executions constitute less than 3 percent of the total 19,000 confirmed executions since 1608. The last female offender execution occurred in North Carolina in 1984. Data indicate that the death sentencing rate for female offenders was about 5 per year beginning in the 1980's, and this rate doubled in 1989. The rate returned to just above pre-1989 levels in 1990 and 1991, surged to 10 in 1992, and returned to 5 in 1993 and 1994. The number of female offenders sentenced to death row each year remains under 0.2 percent of the approximately 3,700 women sentenced to prison each year. Two States, Florida and North Carolina, account for 25 percent of all female death sentences. An appendix provides detailed data on females currently on death row. 3 tables