Aracelia
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "altar of the sky".
Name Census estimates that about 405 living Americans carry the first name Aracelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aracelia today is around 46 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aracelia births was 1971 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aracelia. 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
405
~ 1 in 846,307 Americans
Peak year
1971
18 babies that year
Average age
46
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,466
Tracked since 1949
Census
Aracelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 755 people with the first name Aracelia, which placed it at #15,282 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
#15,282
National first-name rank
People counted
755
755 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aracelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracelia is Hispanic at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Aracelia 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 Aracelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.4% · 728
- White2.8% · 21
- Black or African American0.5% · 4
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 2
Popularity
Aracelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aracelia from the 1940s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 105 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
Aracelia 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 Aracelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aracelias live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aracelia
The name Aracelia has its origins in the Latin language and is derived from the word "ara," meaning "altar." It is believed to have been a name that emerged during the late Roman period, likely as a Christian name given to girls born into devout families.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aracelia can be found in ancient Roman texts from the 4th century AD, where it is mentioned as the name of a young Christian woman who was martyred for her faith. This early association with martyrdom may have contributed to the name's reverence and endurance over the centuries.
As the centuries passed, the name Aracelia continued to be used among Christian communities, particularly in regions with strong Latin cultural influences, such as parts of Italy, Spain, and parts of what is now modern-day France and Portugal. Its popularity waxed and waned over time, but it remained a name imbued with religious significance and a connection to the early Christian Church.
One notable figure bearing the name Aracelia was Aracelia of Fano, an Italian nun who lived in the 13th century and was renowned for her piety and charitable works. She dedicated her life to serving the poor and sick in her community and was celebrated for her unwavering faith and compassion.
Another historical figure named Aracelia was Aracelia de Cárdenas, a Spanish noblewoman who lived in the 16th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of various religious and charitable causes. She played an influential role in the cultural life of her time and was highly regarded for her intelligence and generosity.
In the 17th century, Aracelia de la Cruz was a Mexican poet and writer who gained recognition for her elegant and profound religious poetry. Her works were widely circulated and celebrated among literary circles, and she was considered a prominent voice in the spiritual and intellectual life of her era.
Another notable bearer of the name was Aracelia Fernández, a Cuban educator and activist who lived in the early 20th century. She was a passionate advocate for women's rights and education, and her efforts helped to establish new educational opportunities for girls and women in her country.
While the name Aracelia is not as commonly used today as it once was, it remains a name steeped in historical and cultural significance, evoking a rich tapestry of religious devotion, literary achievement, and social activism across multiple centuries and regions.
People
Aracelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aracelia 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
Aracelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aracelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 405 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aracelia 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 846,307 US residents.
Is Aracelia a common name?
We classify Aracelia as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 462 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aracelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Aracelia was 1971, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aracelia is about 46 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aracelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 755 people with the name Aracelia, or 0.25 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #15,282 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 Aracelia 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 Aracelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aracelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 757 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Aracelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracelia is Hispanic at 96.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.8%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Aracelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Aracelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.4% (728 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 Aracelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aracelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aracelia 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 Aracelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aracelia 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 Aracelia 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 Americans are named Aracelia?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.