Any
A feminine name of Greek origin meaning "desired one".
Name Census estimates that about 615 living Americans carry the first name Any. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Any today is around 39 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Any births was 1976 (28 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Any. 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
615
~ 1 in 557,324 Americans
Peak year
1976
28 babies that year
Average age
39
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,462
Tracked since 1963
Census
Any in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,773 people with the first name Any, which placed it at #8,218 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
#8,218
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,773 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
47.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Any
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Any is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.0%). 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 Any 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 Any at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White47.0% · 833
- Hispanic or Latino36.8% · 653
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.0% · 142
- Black or African American6.5% · 116
- Two or more races1.1% · 19
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 10
Popularity
Any: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Any from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 195 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Any 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 Any during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Any
The given name Any has its origins in ancient Sumerian civilization, one of the earliest known urban societies located in the region of southern Mesopotamia, modern-day southern Iraq. The name is derived from the Sumerian word "ani," which translates to "heaven" or "sky." This celestial association suggests that the name may have been bestowed upon individuals with a connection to the divine or the heavenly realms.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Any can be found in the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia dating back to around 2100 BCE. In this epic, Any is mentioned as a goddess associated with the sky and the heavens. This reference indicates that the name held significance in the religious and mythological traditions of the time.
Throughout history, the name Any has appeared in various ancient texts and records, albeit with slight variations in spelling. In ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, the name "Ani" was used to refer to individuals believed to have a spiritual or celestial connection. Similarly, in ancient Greek mythology, the name "Ania" was given to a nymph associated with the wind and the skies.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Any was Ani, an Egyptian scribe and official who lived during the 19th Dynasty of ancient Egypt, around 1250 BCE. Ani is renowned for the remarkable preservation of his tomb and the intricate hieroglyphic inscriptions found within, which provide invaluable insights into ancient Egyptian beliefs and practices.
In the realm of literature, Any is the name of a character in the ancient Greek play "The Birds" by Aristophanes, written in 414 BCE. This comedic play features Any as a character who represents the embodiment of the sky and the heavenly realms.
Another notable figure named Any was Ani the Patrician, a Byzantine nobleman and military leader who lived in the 6th century CE. He played a crucial role in the Byzantine-Sassanid War and was renowned for his bravery and strategic prowess on the battlefield.
During the Middle Ages, the name Any was popular among various European cultures, particularly in regions influenced by the Germanic and Slavic languages. One notable individual from this period was Any of Gascony, a French noblewoman and troubadour who lived in the 12th century CE. She was renowned for her poetic talents and her contributions to the courtly love tradition.
Throughout history, the name Any has maintained its celestial and spiritual associations, reflecting the enduring fascination with the heavens and the divine across various cultures and civilizations.
People
Any + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Any 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
Any: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Any?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 615 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Any 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 557,324 US residents.
Is Any a common name?
We classify Any as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 658 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Any most popular?
The single biggest year for Any was 1976, when 28 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Any is about 39 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Any in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,773 people with the name Any, or 0.59 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,218 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 Any 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 Any?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Any leans strongly female. 1,575 people counted with this name were female (88.9%), compared with 197 male bearers (11.1%). 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 Any?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Any is White at 47.0%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (36.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.0%). 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 Any most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Any in the 2020 Census, accounting for 47.0% (833 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 Any in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Any a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Any 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 Any still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Any 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 Any 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 Any?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.