Araceli
Of Spanish origin, meaning "altar of heaven" or "heavenly altar".
Name Census estimates that about 19,141 living Americans carry the first name Araceli. It is a predominantly female name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Araceli today is around 30 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Araceli births was 2002 (573 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Araceli. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Araceli with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Araceli is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 138 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
19K
~ 1 in 17,907 Americans
Peak year
2002
573 babies that year
Average age
30
years old
1994 SSA rank
#723
Tracked since 1939
Census
Araceli in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 37,910 people with the first name Araceli, which placed it at #1,089 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
#1,089
National first-name rank
People counted
38K
37,910 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
12.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
95.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Araceli
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Araceli is Hispanic at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%) and White (1.1%). 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 Araceli 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 Araceli at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino95.8% · 36,332
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 1,010
- White1.1% · 433
- Black or African American0.2% · 57
- Two or more races0.1% · 51
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 27
Gender
Gender distribution for Araceli
Out of the 20,038 babies given the name Araceli since 1880, 99.3% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Araceli as a male name
- Ranked #5,128 in 1994
- 11 male births in 1994
- Peak: 1981 (11 births)
Araceli as a female name
- Ranked #723 in 2024
- 388 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2002 (573 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Araceli appears almost entirely female. Of the 37,919 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Araceli: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Araceli from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 4,714 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Araceli remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Araceli 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 Araceli during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aracelis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Araceli, while Massachusetts, Minnesota, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 558 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Araceli
The name Araceli has its origins in Spanish and Latin languages. It comes from the Latin phrase "ara coeli," which translates to "altar of heaven" or "altar in heaven." The name is derived from the Spanish title "Nuestra Señora de la Ara Coeli," which refers to the Virgin Mary.
In the Middle Ages, the name was associated with a Spanish monastery dedicated to the Virgin Mary, known as the Monastery of Santa Maria la Real de la Ara Coeli. This monastery, located in Madrid, was founded in the 12th century and played a significant role in the spread and popularity of the name Araceli.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Araceli can be found in the 16th century. Araceli Cabeza de Vaca, a Spanish woman born in 1542, was one of the first known individuals to bear this name. She was a member of a prominent family in Seville, Spain.
Throughout history, several notable figures have carried the name Araceli. Araceli Arámbula (born in 1975) is a Mexican singer and actress known for her work in telenovelas and music albums. Araceli Argüello (born in 1939) is a Cuban-American actress and dancer who appeared in several Hollywood films in the 1960s and 1970s.
In the literary world, Araceli Herrera (1886-1970) was a Mexican poet and writer whose works explored themes of nature, love, and Mexican folklore. Her poetry collections, such as "Rimas de la vida y de la muerte" (Rhymes of Life and Death), were highly regarded in her time.
In the field of sports, Araceli Soler Castillo (born in 1986) is a Spanish former professional tennis player who achieved a career-high ranking of No. 58 in the world in 2009. She won two singles titles and three doubles titles on the WTA Tour.
Another notable figure with the name Araceli was Araceli García (1923-2015), a Spanish-born Mexican actress and singer. She appeared in numerous films and television shows in Mexico throughout her career, which spanned over six decades.
People
Araceli + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Araceli 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
Araceli: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Araceli?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19,141 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Araceli 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 17,907 US residents.
Is Araceli a common name?
We classify Araceli as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 20,038 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Araceli most popular?
The single biggest year for Araceli was 2002, when 573 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Araceli is about 30 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Araceli in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 37,910 people with the name Araceli, or 12.55 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,089 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 Araceli 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 Araceli?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Araceli appears almost entirely female. Of the 37,919 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Araceli?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Araceli is Hispanic at 95.8%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.7%) and White (1.1%). 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 Araceli most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Araceli in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (36,332 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 Araceli in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Araceli a female name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Araceli 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 Araceli still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Araceli 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 Araceli 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 common is the name Araceli?
For a quick modern take, check how many people share the name Araceli on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.