Aldous
An Old English masculine given name meaning "old friend".
Name Census estimates that about 156 living Americans carry the first name Aldous. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aldous today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aldous births was 2014 (14 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aldous. 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 Aldous with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
156
~ 1 in 2,197,143 Americans
Peak year
2014
14 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,905
Tracked since 1969
Census
Aldous in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 193 people with the first name Aldous, which placed it at #39,252 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
#39,252
National first-name rank
People counted
193
193 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aldous
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aldous is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.9%) and Hispanic (12.4%). 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 Aldous 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 Aldous at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.1% · 89
- Asian and Pacific Islander24.9% · 48
- Hispanic or Latino12.4% · 24
- Black or African American10.9% · 21
- Two or more races5.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 1
Popularity
Aldous: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aldous from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 104 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aldous remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aldous 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 Aldous 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 Aldous
The name Aldous originates from the Old English language and can be traced back to the 9th century CE. It is derived from the Germanic elements "ald" meaning "old" and "ric" meaning "ruler" or "powerful". The name was commonly used in Anglo-Saxon England and referred to someone who was an elder or leader within their community.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Aldous can be found in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, which mentions an individual named Aldous who was a thegn (a nobleman) in the court of King Edward the Elder in the early 10th century. The name also appears in several medieval charters and land records from various parts of England during this period.
In terms of historical figures bearing the name Aldous, one notable example is Aldous Huxley (1894-1963), the acclaimed English writer and philosopher known for his works such as "Brave New World" and "The Doors of Perception". Another significant individual was Aldous Leonard (1911-1986), a British film director and producer who worked on several popular movies in the mid-20th century.
Other historical figures with the name Aldous include Aldous Roger (1915-1999), a British politician who served as a Member of Parliament for several decades, and Aldous Saunders (1893-1965), an English cricketer who played for Surrey County Cricket Club in the early 20th century. Additionally, Aldous Merwin (1927-2019) was an American poet and environmental activist who won numerous accolades, including the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 2009.
Throughout its history, the name Aldous has maintained a strong association with intellectual and artistic pursuits, as well as leadership roles within various fields. Despite its ancient origins, the name has endured over centuries and continues to be used, albeit less commonly, in modern times.
People
Aldous + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aldous 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
Aldous: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aldous?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 156 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aldous 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 2,197,143 US residents.
Is Aldous a common name?
We classify Aldous as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aldous most popular?
The single biggest year for Aldous was 2014, when 14 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aldous is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aldous in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 193 people with the name Aldous, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #39,252 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 Aldous 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 Aldous?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aldous appears almost entirely male. Of the 194 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Aldous?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aldous is White at 46.1%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (24.9%) and Hispanic (12.4%). 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 Aldous most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aldous in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.1% (89 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 Aldous in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aldous a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aldous 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 Aldous still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aldous 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 Aldous 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 Aldous?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.