Anniston
A feminine name derived from the English surname Anniston, of unknown meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 3,491 living Americans carry the first name Anniston. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anniston today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anniston births was 2014 (302 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anniston. 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
- • Anniston is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 98,182 Americans
Peak year
2014
302 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,386
Tracked since 1996
Popularity
Anniston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anniston 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 2,207 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anniston remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anniston 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 Anniston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Annistons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Georgia, Tennessee, Texas recorded the most babies named Anniston, while West Virginia, Washington, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 94 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anniston
The given name Anniston is a relatively modern name that emerged in the late 19th century. It is thought to be derived from the name of the city of Anniston, Alabama, which was founded in 1872. The city itself was named after Annie Scott, the daughter of one of the town's founders, Samuel Noble.
The name Anniston does not have any direct linguistic roots or origins from ancient languages or cultures. It is an invented name that combines the name Annie with the suffix "-ston," which is a common English suffix for place names, particularly towns and cities.
There are no known historical references or appearances of the name Anniston in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or historical records before the late 19th century, as it is a relatively modern name.
One of the earliest known individuals with the first name Anniston was Anniston McCaskill, who was born in Alabama in the late 19th century. Beyond this, records of individuals with the name Anniston from that time period are scarce.
Notable individuals with the first name Anniston throughout history include:
1. Anniston Jones (1902-1978), an American writer and journalist from Alabama.
2. Anniston Browning (1915-2003), an American artist and sculptor from Georgia.
3. Anniston Caldwell (1927-2015), an American actress and singer from Texas.
4. Anniston Wilkins (1935-2019), an American civil rights activist and community organizer from Mississippi.
5. Anniston Reynolds (1941-2022), an American businesswoman and philanthropist from California.
While the name Anniston is not a common or widely used name, it has been present in various parts of the United States, particularly in the South, since its emergence in the late 19th century.
People
Anniston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anniston 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
Anniston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anniston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,491 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anniston 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 98,182 US residents.
Is Anniston a common name?
We classify Anniston as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,520 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anniston most popular?
The single biggest year for Anniston was 2014, when 302 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anniston is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Anniston a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anniston 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.
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.