Alp
A Turkish name derived from the Turkic word meaning "brave, heroic."
Name Census estimates that about 430 living Americans carry the first name Alp. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Alp today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Alp births was 2024 (38 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Alp. 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 Alp with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
430
~ 1 in 797,103 Americans
Peak year
2024
38 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,152
Tracked since 1996
Census
Alp in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 461 people with the first name Alp, which placed it at #21,846 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
#21,846
National first-name rank
People counted
461
461 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Alp
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alp is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Alp 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 Alp at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 431
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.4% · 11
- Hispanic or Latino1.7% · 8
- Two or more races1.5% · 7
- Black or African American0.9% · 4
Popularity
Alp: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Alp from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 186 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Alp remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Alp 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 Alp during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Alps live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New York, Florida recorded the most babies named Alp, while Texas, New Jersey, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 22 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Alp
The name Alp originated from the Turkish language, derived from the Old Turkic word "alp" meaning "brave" or "heroic." It has been a popular name among Turkic-speaking peoples, particularly in Turkey, Central Asia, and parts of the Middle East, for centuries.
Historically, the term "alp" referred to a warrior or hero in ancient Turkic cultures. It was often used as a title or honorific for those who displayed exceptional bravery and courage in battle. The earliest known record of the name Alp can be traced back to the 8th century, during the reign of the Göktürk Khaganate, a major Turkic nomadic confederation that ruled over vast territories in Central Asia.
One of the most notable historical figures bearing the name Alp was Alp Arslan (1030-1072), a Sultan of the Seljuk Empire. He was renowned for his military prowess and expansion of the Seljuk territories, defeating the Byzantine Emperor Romanos IV Diogenes in the Battle of Manzikert in 1071, a pivotal event that opened the way for the Turkic conquest of Anatolia.
Another famous bearer of the name was Alp Tekin (died 963), a military commander and governor who played a crucial role in the establishment of the Ghaznavid Dynasty in modern-day Afghanistan and Pakistan. He was known for his strategic military campaigns and successful conquests in the region.
In the realm of literature, Alp Ar Tonga was a legendary hero celebrated in the Kyrgyz Epic of Manas, one of the longest epic poems in the world. This epic portrays Alp Ar Tonga as a brave warrior and companion of the epic's main protagonist, Manas.
The name Alp has also been used by notable figures in more recent history, such as Alp Arslan Özkan (1910-1949), a Turkish writer and diplomat, and Alp Navruz (1969-2021), a Kurdish singer and activist from Turkey.
While the name Alp has its roots in the Turkic cultures, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly in regions with historical Turkic influences or connections. However, its primary association remains with the Turkic peoples and their rich cultural heritage, where it continues to be a name that evokes bravery, heroism, and a connection to ancient warrior traditions.
People
Alp + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Alp 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
Alp: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Alp?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 430 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Alp 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 797,103 US residents.
Is Alp a common name?
We classify Alp as "Very Rare". It ranks above 83.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 434 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Alp most popular?
The single biggest year for Alp was 2024, when 38 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Alp is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Alp in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 461 people with the name Alp, or 0.15 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,846 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 Alp 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 Alp?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Alp leans strongly male. 455 people counted with this name were male (98.5%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.5%). 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 Alp?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Alp is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.4%) and Hispanic (1.7%). 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 Alp most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Alp in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (431 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 Alp in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Alp a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Alp 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 Alp still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Alp 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 Alp 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 named Alp?
Want to know how many people have the name Alp? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.