Ancil
An uncommon male name derived from English, with uncertain meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 364 living Americans carry the first name Ancil. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ancil today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ancil births was 1920 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ancil. 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.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Ancil is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ancils were born before 1967.
People living today
364
~ 1 in 941,633 Americans
Peak year
1920
35 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2017 SSA rank
#12,366
Tracked since 1888
Census
Ancil in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 535 people with the first name Ancil, which placed it at #19,659 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
#19,659
National first-name rank
People counted
535
535 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ancil
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ancil is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Ancil 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 Ancil at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.5% · 345
- Black or African American26.2% · 140
- Two or more races3.4% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 8
Popularity
Ancil: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ancil from the 1880s through to the 2010s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 252 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ancil 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 Ancil during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ancils live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. Kentucky, Tennessee, West Virginia recorded the most babies named Ancil, while Ohio, Arkansas, Indiana recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 28 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ancil
The name Ancil is of English origin, derived from the Old English word "ancell," which means "hermit" or "recluse." It is believed to have originated in the 8th or 9th century, during the Anglo-Saxon period in England.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ancil can be found in the Domesday Book, a manuscript record of the great survey of England commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. This suggests that the name was in use among the English population during the Norman conquest.
Throughout history, the name Ancil has been associated with religious figures and those who lived a life of solitude and contemplation. In the 12th century, there was a hermit named Ancil who lived in a remote area of Hertfordshire, England, and was revered for his pious lifestyle.
One notable figure with the name Ancil was Ancil Grier (1826-1887), an American lawyer and politician from West Virginia. He served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1867 to 1871.
Another person of note was Ancil Hoffman (1879-1966), an American businessman and politician from Oklahoma. He served as the 11th Governor of Oklahoma from 1929 to 1933.
In the field of literature, there was Ancil Paterson (1913-1986), an Australian poet and writer known for his works exploring the theme of rural life in Australia.
The name Ancil has also been found in religious texts and records. For instance, in the 14th century, there was a monk named Ancil who wrote a treatise on the contemplative life.
While not as common today, the name Ancil has been carried through the centuries by various individuals, each adding their own unique contribution to the history and legacy of this ancient English name.
People
Ancil + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ancil 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
Ancil: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ancil?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 364 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ancil 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 941,633 US residents.
Is Ancil a common name?
We classify Ancil as "Very Rare". It ranks above 81.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,099 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ancil most popular?
The single biggest year for Ancil was 1920, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ancil is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ancil in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 535 people with the name Ancil, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,659 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 Ancil 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 Ancil?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ancil leans strongly male. 519 people counted with this name were male (96.5%), compared with 19 female bearers (3.5%). 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 Ancil?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ancil is White at 64.5%. The next largest groups are Black (26.2%) and Two or More Races (3.4%). 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 Ancil most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ancil in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.5% (345 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 Ancil in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ancil a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ancil 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 Ancil still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ancil 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 Ancil 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 Ancil?
Find out how many people have the name Ancil on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.