Airis
A feminine name believed to be a combination of "air" and "iris".
Name Census estimates that about 334 living Americans carry the first name Airis. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.5% of registrations being female. The average person named Airis today is around 8 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Airis births was 2024 (64 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Airis. 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
334
~ 1 in 1,026,211 Americans
Peak year
2024
64 babies that year
Average age
8
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,044
Tracked since 2004
Census
Airis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 208 people with the first name Airis, which placed it at #37,486 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
#37,486
National first-name rank
People counted
208
208 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
35.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Airis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Airis is Black at 35.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and White (22.1%). 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 Airis 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 Airis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American35.6% · 74
- Hispanic or Latino26.4% · 55
- White22.1% · 46
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.7% · 18
- Two or more races7.2% · 15
Gender
Gender distribution for Airis
Airis leans heavily female at 84.5% of total registrations, but 52 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Airis as a male name
- Ranked #7,239 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (11 births)
Airis as a female name
- Ranked #3,044 in 2024
- 53 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (53 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Airis leans strongly female. 173 people counted with this name were female (81.2%), compared with 40 male bearers (18.8%).
Popularity
Airis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Airis from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 174 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Airis 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 Airis during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Airis' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, California, New York recorded the most babies named Airis, while New York, California, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 6 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Airis
The given name Airis has its origins in Greek mythology and culture. It is believed to be derived from the ancient Greek word "aer," meaning air or atmosphere. This name was likely inspired by the personification of the air or wind as a deity in Greek mythology.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Airis can be found in the writings of the ancient Greek philosopher Plato, who lived from 428 BC to 348 BC. In his dialogues, he mentions a character named Airis, although little is known about the specific context or significance of this reference.
During the Byzantine era, which spanned from the 4th to the 15th century, the name Airis was occasionally used among Greek-speaking communities. It is recorded in several historical documents and inscriptions from this period, indicating its continued use over the centuries.
In the 16th century, a notable figure named Airis Kallinikos was a renowned scholar and philosopher who made significant contributions to the study of ancient Greek texts. He was born in 1512 in the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul) and was known for his extensive knowledge of classical literature.
Another historical figure bearing the name Airis was a Greek poet and playwright who lived in the 18th century. Airis Patrikios, born in 1745 on the island of Crete, was celebrated for his lyrical works and plays that explored themes of love, nature, and Greek mythology.
In more recent times, a notable figure named Airis Konstantinou was a Greek artist and sculptor who lived from 1913 to 2003. His works, which often depicted scenes from Greek mythology and folklore, are displayed in several museums and galleries throughout Greece.
While the name Airis has its roots in ancient Greek culture, it has also been adopted and used in various other cultures and regions over the centuries, though its prevalence has been relatively limited compared to more common names.
People
Airis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Airis 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
Airis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Airis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 334 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Airis 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 1,026,211 US residents.
Is Airis a common name?
We classify Airis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 336 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Airis most popular?
The single biggest year for Airis was 2024, when 64 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Airis is about 8 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Airis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 208 people with the name Airis, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #37,486 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 Airis 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 Airis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Airis leans strongly female. 173 people counted with this name were female (81.2%), compared with 40 male bearers (18.8%). 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 Airis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Airis is Black at 35.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (26.4%) and White (22.1%). 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 Airis most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Airis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 35.6% (74 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 Airis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Airis a female name?
Yes, 84.5% of people registered as Airis 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 Airis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Airis 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 Airis 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 common is the name Airis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.