Altair
A masculine Arabic name meaning "the flying one" or "the soaring bird".
Name Census estimates that about 394 living Americans carry the first name Altair. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 57.7% of registrations being male. The average person named Altair today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Altair births was 2012 (33 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Altair. 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
394
~ 1 in 869,935 Americans
Peak year
2012
33 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,063
Tracked since 2008
Gender
Gender distribution for Altair
Altair is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 397 total registrations, 229 (57.7%) were male and 168 (42.3%) were female.
Altair as a male name
- Ranked #4,063 in 2024
- 26 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (26 births)
Altair as a female name
- Ranked #12,197 in 2024
- 7 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (18 births)
Popularity
Altair: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Altair 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 257 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Altair remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Altair 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 Altair during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Altairs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Altair, while New York, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Altair
The name Altair originated from the Arabic language and has its roots in the medieval Islamic culture of the Middle East. It is derived from the Arabic word "al-tair," which means "the flying one" or "the bird." The name is closely associated with the brightest star in the constellation Aquila, known as Altair.
The earliest known references to the name Altair can be found in ancient Arabic astronomical texts and star catalogs dating back to the 8th and 9th centuries. These texts describe Altair as one of the most prominent stars in the night sky, and it held significant importance in navigation and timekeeping for Arab astronomers and seafarers.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Altair was Altair ibn Abdallah al-Harithi, a renowned Arab mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century. He made significant contributions to the development of trigonometry and the study of celestial mechanics.
In literature, the name Altair gained prominence through the famous 12th-century Persian epic poem "The Conference of the Birds" by Farid ud-Din Attar. In this allegorical work, Altair is personified as a spiritual guide, representing the highest spiritual attainment.
During the Renaissance period, the name Altair became more widely known in Europe, particularly among scholars and astronomers. One notable figure was Altair Altairius, a 16th-century Italian astronomer and mathematician who authored several treatises on celestial mechanics and the motion of planets.
In the 19th century, Altair was the name of a fictional character in the popular French novel "The Extraordinary Adventures of Altair" by Auguste de Villiers de L'Isle-Adam, published in 1888. The story portrays Altair as a brilliant scientist and inventor who travels to other planets.
Another significant figure bearing the name Altair was Altair ibn Ali, a renowned Sufi mystic and poet from the 12th century. His spiritual writings and poetry had a profound influence on Islamic mysticism and the development of Sufism.
While the name Altair has its origins in the Arabic language and Islamic culture, it has transcended cultural boundaries and has been adopted by people around the world, drawn to its celestial and poetic associations.
People
Altair + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Altair 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
Altair: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Altair?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 394 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Altair 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 869,935 US residents.
Is Altair a common name?
We classify Altair as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 397 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Altair most popular?
The single biggest year for Altair was 2012, when 33 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Altair is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Altair a male name?
Yes, 57.7% of people registered as Altair 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.
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.