Anaeli
A variant feminine name of Latin origin meaning "heavenly gift."
Name Census estimates that about 275 living Americans carry the first name Anaeli. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anaeli today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anaeli births was 2020 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anaeli. 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
275
~ 1 in 1,246,379 Americans
Peak year
2020
18 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,972
Tracked since 1994
Census
Anaeli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 272 people with the first name Anaeli, which placed it at #31,478 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
#31,478
National first-name rank
People counted
272
272 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
93.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anaeli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaeli is Hispanic at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Anaeli 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 Anaeli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino93.8% · 255
- White4.0% · 11
- Black or African American0.7% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 2
- Two or more races0.7% · 2
Popularity
Anaeli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anaeli 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 118 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anaeli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anaeli 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 Anaeli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anaelis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anaeli
The name Anaeli is believed to have originated from the ancient Sumerian language, one of the earliest written languages in human history, dating back to around 3500 BCE. Its origins can be traced to the city-state of Ur in Mesopotamia, which is now part of modern-day Iraq. The name is thought to be derived from the Sumerian words "ana" meaning "heaven" and "eli" meaning "high" or "exalted."
Anaeli was a relatively uncommon name during the Sumerian era, but it gained popularity during the Akkadian period, which followed the decline of the Sumerian civilization. In the Epic of Gilgamesh, one of the earliest known works of literature, there is a character named Anaeli who is described as a wise and respected elder.
The name Anaeli also appears in several ancient Babylonian and Assyrian texts, where it was often associated with individuals of high social status or religious significance. One notable figure was Anaeli, a priestess who served in the temple of the goddess Ishtar in the city of Uruk during the 6th century BCE.
In later centuries, the name Anaeli was adopted by various cultures and civilizations across the Middle East and Mediterranean regions. During the Byzantine period, it was occasionally used by Greek and Coptic Christians, although its popularity remained relatively limited.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Anaeli was a Byzantine scholar and theologian who lived in the 9th century CE. She is believed to have been a student of the renowned philosopher and theologian John Damascene and is credited with several influential works on theology and religious philosophy.
Another notable figure was Anaeli al-Tabrizi, a Persian mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 12th century CE. She is renowned for her contributions to the field of trigonometry and her work on improving astronomical calculations and observations.
In the 15th century, there was an Italian noblewoman named Anaeli Sforza who was a prominent figure in the court of Milan. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her involvement in various political and diplomatic affairs of the time.
During the Renaissance period, the name Anaeli was occasionally used by Italian families, particularly in the city-states of Florence and Venice. One such individual was Anaeli Veneziano, a renowned painter and fresco artist who lived in the late 15th century and is renowned for her intricate and detailed works adorning various churches and palaces in Italy.
In more recent centuries, the name Anaeli has remained relatively uncommon, although it has been documented in various regions, including parts of the Middle East, Europe, and even South America, where it may have been introduced by immigrants or cultural influences.
People
Anaeli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anaeli 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
Anaeli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anaeli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 275 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anaeli 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 1,246,379 US residents.
Is Anaeli a common name?
We classify Anaeli as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 278 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anaeli most popular?
The single biggest year for Anaeli was 2020, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anaeli is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anaeli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 272 people with the name Anaeli, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,478 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 Anaeli 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 Anaeli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anaeli appears almost entirely female. Of the 275 people counted with this name, 99.3% 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 Anaeli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaeli is Hispanic at 93.8%. The next largest groups are White (4.0%) and Black (0.7%). 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 Anaeli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Anaeli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.8% (255 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 Anaeli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anaeli a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anaeli 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 Anaeli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anaeli 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 Anaeli 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 Anaeli?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.