Ajax
A name derived from the Greek hero Aias in Homer's Iliad.
Name Census estimates that about 413 living Americans carry the first name Ajax. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ajax today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ajax births was 2023 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ajax. 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 Ajax with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
413
~ 1 in 829,914 Americans
Peak year
2023
45 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,681
Tracked since 2005
Census
Ajax in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 318 people with the first name Ajax, which placed it at #28,322 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
#28,322
National first-name rank
People counted
318
318 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ajax
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ajax is White at 66.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Ajax 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 Ajax at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.0% · 210
- Hispanic or Latino13.2% · 42
- Two or more races9.7% · 31
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.9% · 22
- Black or African American3.1% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 3
Popularity
Ajax: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ajax from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 223 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ajax remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ajax 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 Ajax during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ajax' live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ajax
The name Ajax finds its origins in Greek mythology and culture, dating back to ancient times. It is derived from the Greek word "aias," which means "earth" or "soil." The name was initially associated with the Greek hero Ajax, who played a significant role in Homer's epic poem, the Iliad.
Ajax was one of the greatest warriors in the Trojan War, renowned for his courage, strength, and bravery. He was the son of Telamon, the king of Salamis, and was often referred to as "Ajax the Greater" or "Telamonian Ajax" to distinguish him from another hero with the same name, Ajax the Lesser.
In the Iliad, Ajax is depicted as a formidable fighter who engaged in numerous battles against the Trojans. He is particularly famous for his duel with Hector, the greatest Trojan warrior, during which neither emerged victorious. Ajax's bravery and skill in combat earned him great respect and admiration among his fellow Greeks.
The earliest recorded instance of the name Ajax dates back to ancient Greek literature, specifically Homer's Iliad, which was composed around the 8th century BC. Over the centuries, the name has been used by various individuals, including historical figures and literary characters.
One of the most notable bearers of the name Ajax was Ajax the Greater, the Greek hero from the Trojan War. Another famous individual with this name was Ajax the Lesser, also known as Ajax the Locrian, who was a Greek warrior and the son of Oileus. He played a significant role in the Trojan War and was known for his skill as an archer.
In the modern era, several notable individuals have borne the name Ajax, including Ajax Belfort (1923-1976), a Dutch football player and manager, and Ajax Eriksson (1936-2015), a Swedish football player and coach.
While the name Ajax is not as common today as it was in ancient times, it continues to be used as a given name, particularly in countries with strong ties to Greek culture and mythology.
People
Ajax + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ajax 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
Ajax: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ajax?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 413 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ajax 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 829,914 US residents.
Is Ajax a common name?
We classify Ajax as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ajax most popular?
The single biggest year for Ajax was 2023, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ajax is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ajax in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 318 people with the name Ajax, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #28,322 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 Ajax 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 Ajax?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ajax leans strongly male. 313 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 4 female bearers (1.3%). 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 Ajax?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ajax is White at 66.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (13.2%) and Two or More Races (9.7%). 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 Ajax most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ajax in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.0% (210 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 Ajax in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ajax a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ajax in the SSA data are male. 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 Ajax still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ajax 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 Ajax 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 the name Ajax?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.