Aislyn
Vision of peace, from old English elements meaning "from the peaceful meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 1,857 living Americans carry the first name Aislyn. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aislyn today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aislyn births was 2015 (111 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aislyn. 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 Aislyn with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aislyn is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.9K
~ 1 in 184,574 Americans
Peak year
2015
111 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,567
Tracked since 1979
Census
Aislyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,484 people with the first name Aislyn, which placed it at #9,378 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
#9,378
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,484 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aislyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aislyn is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Aislyn 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 Aislyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.6% · 989
- Hispanic or Latino21.6% · 320
- Two or more races7.1% · 105
- Black or African American3.4% · 51
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
Popularity
Aislyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aislyn 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 829 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aislyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aislyn 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 Aislyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aislyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Aislyn, while Virginia, Illinois, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 60 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aislyn
The name Aislyn is a modern English variant of the traditional Irish name Aisling, which means "dream" or "vision." Its origins can be traced back to the Old Irish word "aislinge," derived from the Proto-Celtic word "aislingion." The name gained popularity in Ireland during the medieval period, particularly among the Gaelic nobility.
Aisling was widely used in Irish mythology and folklore, often personified as a beautiful woman who appeared in dreams or visions to convey important messages or prophecies. One of the earliest known references to the name can be found in the 12th-century manuscript "The Book of Leinster," which contains a collection of Irish tales and legends.
In the 16th century, the name Aisling appeared in several Irish bardic poems, including those composed by the renowned poet Aodhagán Ó Rathaille. During this period, the name was associated with the allegorical representation of Ireland as a woman, reflecting the country's struggle for independence and cultural revival.
The modern spelling variation "Aislyn" emerged in the late 20th century as an anglicized version of the traditional Irish name. While not as commonly used as the original spelling, it has gained popularity among English-speaking families, particularly those with Irish heritage.
Notable historical figures with the name Aislyn include:
1. Aislyn Anttonen (1970-present), an American artist and sculptor known for her large-scale public installations.
2. Aislyn Muir (1950-2019), a Canadian writer and poet whose works explored themes of identity and cultural heritage.
3. Aislyn O'Connor (1912-1998), an Irish politician who served as a member of the Dáil Éireann (Irish Parliament) from 1954 to 1969.
4. Aislyn Mackenzie (1885-1967), a Scottish educator and women's rights activist who campaigned for equal opportunities in education and employment.
5. Aislyn Fitzgerald (1820-1896), an American philanthropist and social reformer who established several orphanages and shelters in New York City.
While the name Aislyn has evolved over time, its roots in Irish mythology and literature remain deeply ingrained in its cultural significance, reflecting the enduring connection between language, identity, and storytelling.
People
Aislyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aislyn 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
Aislyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aislyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,857 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aislyn 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 184,574 US residents.
Is Aislyn a common name?
We classify Aislyn as "Rare". It ranks above 93.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,879 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aislyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Aislyn was 2015, when 111 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aislyn is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aislyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,484 people with the name Aislyn, or 0.49 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,378 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 Aislyn 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 Aislyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aislyn appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,484 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Aislyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aislyn is White at 66.6%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (21.6%) and Two or More Races (7.1%). 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 Aislyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aislyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.6% (989 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 Aislyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aislyn a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aislyn 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 Aislyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aislyn 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 Aislyn 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 are called Aislyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.