Ailyn
A feminine name of Spanish or Celtic origin meaning "bright" or "ray of light".
Name Census estimates that about 4,275 living Americans carry the first name Ailyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ailyn today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ailyn births was 2012 (241 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ailyn. 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 Ailyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ailyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.3K
~ 1 in 80,176 Americans
Peak year
2012
241 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,378
Tracked since 1975
Census
Ailyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,188 people with the first name Ailyn, which placed it at #5,402 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
#5,402
National first-name rank
People counted
3.2K
3,188 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ailyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ailyn is Hispanic at 84.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and White (5.9%). 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 Ailyn 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 Ailyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.9% · 2,708
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.4% · 236
- White5.9% · 188
- Black or African American0.9% · 29
- Two or more races0.6% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 7
Popularity
Ailyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ailyn from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,961 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ailyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ailyn 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 Ailyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ailyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Ailyn, while Virginia, Tennessee, Oregon recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 137 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ailyn
The name Ailyn is a relatively modern variant of the Scottish Gaelic name Ailín, which is a diminutive form of the name Ail. Ail is derived from the Old Irish word "ail," meaning "rock" or "stone." The name Ailín likely originated in the early medieval period among Gaelic-speaking communities in Scotland and Ireland.
In its original Gaelic form, the name Ailín was often anglicized as Aileen or Eileen, with the spelling variations reflecting the different ways the name was adapted into English. The spelling "Ailyn" emerged later, possibly as a more modern or creative spelling variation.
While the name Ailyn does not have a long historical record, there are a few notable individuals who bore variations of this name throughout history. One of the earliest recorded examples is Eileen O'Connell (1888-1964), an Irish-American actress and singer who performed in vaudeville and on Broadway in the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Eileen Agar (1899-1991), an English painter and photographer associated with the Surrealist movement. She was known for her abstract and dreamlike paintings, and her works are held in various museum collections.
In the realm of literature, Eileen Chang (1920-1995) was a renowned Chinese writer and essayist who wrote extensively about the experience of women in mid-20th century China. Her works, such as the novel "Lust, Caution," explored themes of love, desire, and societal constraints.
Moving to more recent times, Eileen Collins (born 1956) was an American astronaut and the first female pilot and commander of a Space Shuttle mission. She logged over 537 hours in space and played a significant role in advancing opportunities for women in space exploration.
Finally, Aileen Wuornos (1956-2002) was an American serial killer who gained notoriety for her conviction in the murders of seven men in Florida in the late 1980s and early 1990s. Her case and her claims of acting in self-defense against violent clients garnered significant media attention and sparked debates about victims' rights and the fairness of her trial.
While the name Ailyn may be a modern spelling variation, its roots can be traced back to the ancient Gaelic language and the early medieval period in Scotland and Ireland. Despite its relatively recent emergence, the name has been borne by individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions, leaving their mark on various fields throughout history.
People
Ailyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ailyn 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
Ailyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ailyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,275 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ailyn 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 80,176 US residents.
Is Ailyn a common name?
We classify Ailyn as "Rare". It ranks above 96.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,321 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ailyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Ailyn was 2012, when 241 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ailyn is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ailyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,188 people with the name Ailyn, or 1.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,402 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 Ailyn 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 Ailyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ailyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,184 people counted with this name, 99.3% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Ailyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ailyn is Hispanic at 84.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.4%) and White (5.9%). 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 Ailyn most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ailyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.9% (2,708 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 Ailyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ailyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ailyn 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 Ailyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ailyn 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 Ailyn 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 people have Ailyn as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Ailyn on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.