Airelle
A French feminine name meaning "blueberry".
Name Census estimates that about 227 living Americans carry the first name Airelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Airelle today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Airelle births was 1989 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Airelle. 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
227
~ 1 in 1,509,931 Americans
Peak year
1989
22 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2015 SSA rank
#14,556
Tracked since 1989
Census
Airelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 211 people with the first name Airelle, which placed it at #37,164 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
#37,164
National first-name rank
People counted
211
211 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
50.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Airelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Airelle is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (28.0%) and Hispanic (13.7%). 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 Airelle 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 Airelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American50.7% · 107
- White28.0% · 59
- Hispanic or Latino13.7% · 29
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.7% · 12
- Two or more races1.4% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Airelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Airelle from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 133 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Airelle 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 Airelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Airelle
Airelle is a French feminine given name derived from the word "airelle" meaning "lingonberry" in French. The name is believed to have originated in the northern regions of France, particularly in the areas where lingonberry cultivation was common, such as Normandy and Brittany.
The earliest recorded use of the name Airelle dates back to the late 19th century in France. However, it did not gain widespread popularity until the 20th century. The name may have been inspired by the lingonberry's vibrant red color, which was often associated with beauty and vitality.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Airelle was Airelle Frisch (1882-1954), a French opera singer and actress known for her performances in various operas and theatrical productions in Paris during the early 20th century.
Another notable figure was Airelle Bergerac (1903-1976), a French writer and poet who published several collections of poetry and novels throughout her career. Her works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human condition.
In the realm of aviation, Airelle Delplanque (1909-1988) was a pioneering French aviator and one of the first women to obtain a pilot's license in France. She participated in several air races and set several altitude records for women pilots in the 1930s.
Airelle Dutour (1921-2005) was a French resistance fighter during World War II. She played a crucial role in the French Resistance movement, helping to rescue Allied pilots and assisting in the escape of Jewish refugees from Nazi-occupied France.
More recently, Airelle Besson (born 1947) is a French entrepreneur and businesswoman known for her work in the fashion and cosmetics industry. She founded the luxury cosmetics brand Airelle Beauté, which became popular in France and internationally.
While the name Airelle is not as common as some other French names, it has maintained a unique and charming quality, often associated with nature, beauty, and strength throughout its history.
People
Airelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Airelle 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
Airelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Airelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 227 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Airelle 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 1,509,931 US residents.
Is Airelle a common name?
We classify Airelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 233 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Airelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Airelle was 1989, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Airelle is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Airelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 211 people with the name Airelle, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,164 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 Airelle 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 Airelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Airelle appears almost entirely female. Of the 211 people counted with this name, 99.1% 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 Airelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Airelle is Black at 50.7%. The next largest groups are White (28.0%) and Hispanic (13.7%). 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 Airelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Airelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 50.7% (107 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 Airelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Airelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Airelle 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 Airelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Airelle 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 Airelle 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 Airelle?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.