Ailin
An Irish feminine name meaning "beauty, attractive".
Name Census estimates that about 1,130 living Americans carry the first name Ailin. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ailin today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ailin births was 2012 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ailin. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ailin with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ailin is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 16 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 303,322 Americans
Peak year
2012
89 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2012 SSA rank
#5,428
Tracked since 1990
Census
Ailin in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,580 people with the first name Ailin, which placed it at #8,985 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#8,985
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,580 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
69.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ailin
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ailin is Hispanic at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.0%) and White (9.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Ailin described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Ailin at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino69.0% · 1,090
- Asian and Pacific Islander20.0% · 316
- White9.2% · 145
- Two or more races1.6% · 25
- Black or African American0.3% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Ailin
Out of the 1,143 babies given the name Ailin since 1880, 99.6% 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.
Ailin as a male name
- Ranked #12,327 in 2012
- 5 male births in 2012
- Peak: 2012 (5 births)
Ailin as a female name
- Ranked #5,428 in 2024
- 23 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (84 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ailin leans strongly female. 1,529 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 50 male bearers (3.2%).
Popularity
Ailin: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ailin from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 502 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ailin 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 Ailin during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ailins live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Ailin, while New Jersey, Arizona, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 79 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ailin
The given name Ailin has its roots in the Gaelic and Irish languages, with origins dating back to the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Old Irish word "áilén," meaning "little rock" or "small island." This name was commonly used in ancient Ireland, particularly in coastal regions and areas with a strong Celtic cultural influence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ailin can be found in the Annals of Inisfallen, a medieval Irish chronicle compiled in the late 12th century. The annals mention an individual named Ailin Ua Ruairc, a prominent leader in the Irish province of Connacht during the 11th century.
In the 13th century, Ailin mac Ruaidri, a Scottish nobleman and Chief of the Clan MacRuari, played a significant role in the Wars of Scottish Independence against England. He was a staunch supporter of Robert the Bruce and was instrumental in several key battles.
During the 16th century, Ailin O'Byrne, a notable Irish chieftain from County Wicklow, was involved in the Irish Rebellion of 1534-1535 against the English Crown. He was eventually captured and executed for his role in the uprising.
In the 17th century, Ailin O'Kelly, a renowned Irish harper and composer, made significant contributions to the preservation of traditional Irish music and culture. His compositions are still celebrated today as part of Ireland's rich musical heritage.
Moving into the 18th century, Ailin MacGillivray was a Scottish Jacobite soldier who fought in the Jacobite Rising of 1745, supporting the claim of Charles Edward Stuart to the thrones of England, Scotland, and Ireland. MacGillivray was captured after the Battle of Culloden and later exiled to the American colonies.
While the name Ailin has ancient Celtic roots, it has been used across various cultures and regions over the centuries, often with slight variations in spelling or pronunciation. Its enduring presence in historical records and its association with notable figures throughout history attest to its rich cultural significance.
People
Ailin + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ailin 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
Ailin: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ailin?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,130 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ailin 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 303,322 US residents.
Is Ailin a common name?
We classify Ailin as "Rare". It ranks above 90.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,143 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ailin most popular?
The single biggest year for Ailin was 2012, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ailin is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ailin in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,580 people with the name Ailin, or 0.52 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,985 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Ailin in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Ailin?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ailin leans strongly female. 1,529 people counted with this name were female (96.8%), compared with 50 male bearers (3.2%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Ailin?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ailin is Hispanic at 69.0%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (20.0%) and White (9.2%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Ailin most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ailin in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.0% (1,090 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Ailin in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ailin a female name?
Yes, 99.6% of people registered as Ailin 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.
Is Ailin still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ailin in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Ailin can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many Americans are named Ailin?
See how many people share the name Ailin on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.