Anisten
A variant of the French name Anistenne meaning "gracious and good".
Name Census estimates that about 154 living Americans carry the first name Anisten. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anisten today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anisten births was 2013 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anisten. 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
154
~ 1 in 2,225,678 Americans
Peak year
2013
15 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,432
Tracked since 2003
Popularity
Anisten: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anisten 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 83 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anisten remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anisten 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 Anisten 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 Anisten
The given name Anisten has its origins in the ancient Etruscan civilization that flourished in what is now modern-day Italy. It is derived from the Etruscan word "anis," which translates to "graceful" or "elegant." The name first appeared in written records dating back to the 6th century BCE, carved onto various artifacts and inscriptions found in Etruscan tombs and archaeological sites.
Anisten was a relatively common name among the Etruscan nobility and upper classes. It was often bestowed upon young girls as a symbol of their family's status and their hope for the child to embody the qualities of grace and poise. The name's popularity spread throughout the Italian peninsula as the Etruscan culture intermingled with the emerging Roman civilization.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Anisten was a noble Etruscan woman who lived in the city of Veii during the 5th century BCE. Her name was inscribed on a beautifully decorated ceramic vase that was discovered in her family's tomb, providing evidence of the name's usage during that time period.
In the 3rd century BCE, a renowned Etruscan sculptor named Anisten gained fame for her intricate and lifelike terracotta sculptures depicting various deities and mythological figures. Her works were highly sought after by wealthy Roman patrons and have been found in excavations throughout the Italian peninsula.
During the early years of the Roman Empire, a woman named Anisten is mentioned in the writings of the historian Livy as being a prominent figure in the city of Pompeii. She was described as a wealthy landowner and influential member of the community before the city's tragic destruction in 79 CE.
In the 5th century CE, a Christian martyr named Anisten was recorded in the records of the early Church for her unwavering faith and sacrifice. She was said to have been executed during the persecution of Christians under the Roman Emperor Diocletian, and her name was included in early martyrologies and lists of saints.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance periods, the name Anisten remained in use, though it was less common than other names of the time. One notable individual was Anisten de Montfort, a 13th-century French noblewoman who played a significant role in the Albigensian Crusade against the Cathar heretics in southern France.
People
Anisten + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anisten 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
Anisten: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anisten?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anisten 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 2,225,678 US residents.
Is Anisten a common name?
We classify Anisten as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 155 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anisten most popular?
The single biggest year for Anisten was 2013, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anisten is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Anisten in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anisten a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anisten 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 Anisten still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anisten 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 Anisten 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Anisten?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.