Ansley
An English feminine name derived from a surname associated with the town of Ansley.
Name Census estimates that about 11,700 living Americans carry the first name Ansley. It is a predominantly female name (97.6% of registrations). The average person named Ansley today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ansley births was 2011 (477 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ansley. 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
- • Although Ansley is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 290 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
12K
~ 1 in 29,295 Americans
Peak year
2011
477 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2015 SSA rank
#1,314
Tracked since 1913
Census
Ansley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,339 people with the first name Ansley, which placed it at #2,406 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
#2,406
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,339 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
87.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ansley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ansley is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Ansley 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 Ansley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White87.3% · 9,024
- Two or more races3.8% · 390
- Black or African American3.8% · 389
- Hispanic or Latino3.5% · 364
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 127
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 45
Gender
Gender distribution for Ansley
Ansley leans heavily female at 97.6% of total registrations, but 290 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Ansley as a male name
- Ranked #10,748 in 2015
- 6 male births in 2015
- Peak: 1973 (9 births)
Ansley as a female name
- Ranked #1,314 in 2024
- 174 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (470 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ansley leans strongly female. 10,029 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 314 male bearers (3.0%).
Popularity
Ansley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ansley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 4,120 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ansley 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 Ansley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ansleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 30 states and territories. Georgia, Florida, South Carolina recorded the most babies named Ansley, while Wisconsin, Washington, Utah recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 332 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ansley
The name Ansley has its origins in the English language and can be traced back to the medieval period. It is believed to have derived from a combination of the Old English words "ane," meaning "one" or "alone," and "leah," which referred to a clearing or meadow.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Ansley can be found in historical records from the 13th and 14th centuries. During this time, it was primarily used as a surname, often referring to someone who lived near a particular clearing or meadow. Over time, the name transitioned into a given name, though its usage remained relatively rare.
One of the earliest known individuals with the name Ansley was Sir John Ansley, a prominent English landowner and knight who lived during the 14th century. Records indicate that he was born around 1320 and participated in the Hundred Years' War between England and France.
Another notable figure bearing the name Ansley was William Ansley, an English clergyman and author who lived in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. He is best known for his work entitled "A Guide to Eternity," published in 1615, which addressed various theological and philosophical topics.
In the 18th century, Ansley Eastwood was a British naval officer who served during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in 1745 and played a significant role in several battles against the American colonists, including the Battle of Yorktown in 1781.
Moving into the 19th century, Ansley Wilcox was an American lawyer and politician from Connecticut. Born in 1810, he served as a member of the United States House of Representatives from 1849 to 1853.
Finally, one of the most prominent individuals with the name Ansley was Ansley Coale, an American architect and engineer who lived from 1894 to 1985. He is best known for his contributions to the design and construction of several iconic buildings in New York City, including the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building.
While the name Ansley has maintained a relatively low usage throughout history, it has been carried by various individuals from diverse backgrounds and professions, each leaving their mark on their respective fields and eras.
People
Ansley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ansley 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
Ansley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ansley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11,700 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ansley 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 29,295 US residents.
Is Ansley a common name?
We classify Ansley as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11,995 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ansley most popular?
The single biggest year for Ansley was 2011, when 477 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ansley is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ansley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,339 people with the name Ansley, or 3.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,406 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 Ansley 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 Ansley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ansley leans strongly female. 10,029 people counted with this name were female (97.0%), compared with 314 male bearers (3.0%). 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 Ansley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ansley is White at 87.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (3.8%) and Black (3.8%). 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 Ansley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ansley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 87.3% (9,024 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 Ansley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ansley a female name?
Yes, 97.6% of people registered as Ansley 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 Ansley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ansley 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 Ansley 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 Ansley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.