Aileen
Irish feminine form of the Gaelic name Aideen, meaning "little fire".
Name Census estimates that about 24,434 living Americans carry the first name Aileen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aileen today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aileen births was 2009 (685 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aileen. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
People living today
24K
~ 1 in 14,028 Americans
Peak year
2009
685 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2011 SSA rank
#718
Tracked since 1880
Gender
Gender distribution for Aileen
Out of the 37,298 babies given the name Aileen since 1880, 100.0% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Aileen as a male name
- Ranked #12,340 in 2011
- 5 male births in 2011
- Peak: 2011 (5 births)
Aileen as a female name
- Ranked #718 in 2024
- 390 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2009 (685 births)
Popularity
Aileen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aileen from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 5,820 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Aileen remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aileen by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aileen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aileens live
The SSA's state-level files cover 45 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Aileen, while Vermont, District of Columbia, South Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 678 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aileen
The name Aileen has its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically in Ireland. It is derived from the old Irish name "Aoibhillinn," which means "little beautiful one" or "small and beauteous." The name is thought to have been in use since the Middle Ages, around the 12th or 13th century.
The name Aileen is a diminutive form of the Irish name Aoife, which itself means "beautiful" or "radiant." The spelling has evolved over time, with variations such as Aylina, Ailene, and Ailinn appearing in historical records.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aileen can be found in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In the year 1231, an entry mentions an "Aileen ingen Ruaidhri," which translates to "Aileen, daughter of Ruaidhri."
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Aileen. One of the most famous was Aileen Aroon, a 17th-century Irish noblewoman and muse of the Irish poet Sir Samuel Ferguson (1810-1886), who wrote a famous poem entitled "Aileen Aroon" in her honor.
Another notable Aileen was Aileen O'Beirne (1902-1974), an Irish sculptor and artist known for her religious statues and works depicting Irish mythology. Her sculptures can be found in churches and public spaces throughout Ireland.
In the literary world, Aileen Piper (1909-1997) was a renowned Australian author and poet, known for her works exploring the themes of love, nature, and the human experience. Her poetry collections include "The Half-Inhabited World" and "The Burning Cloud."
Aileen Wuornos (1956-2002) was an American serial killer, convicted of killing seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990. Her life and trial were the subject of the 2003 biographical crime drama film "Monster," in which Charlize Theron portrayed Wuornos and won an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Finally, Aileen Quinn (born 1971) is an American actress best known for her role as Annie in the 1982 film adaptation of the musical "Annie." She had a successful career as a child actress and has continued to work in the entertainment industry as an adult.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Aileen
People
Aileen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aileen as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aileen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aileen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 24,434 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aileen going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 14,028 US residents.
Is Aileen a common name?
We classify Aileen as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 37,298 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aileen most popular?
The single biggest year for Aileen was 2009, when 685 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aileen is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aileen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aileen in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.