Aracelis
A Portuguese name meaning "altar of heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 997 living Americans carry the first name Aracelis. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aracelis today is around 40 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aracelis births was 1971 (35 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aracelis. 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
997
~ 1 in 343,786 Americans
Peak year
1971
35 babies that year
Average age
40
years old
2024 SSA rank
#13,597
Tracked since 1955
Census
Aracelis in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,006 people with the first name Aracelis, which placed it at #5,629 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
#5,629
National first-name rank
People counted
3.0K
3,006 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aracelis
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracelis is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) 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 Aracelis 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 Aracelis at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.6% · 2,965
- White0.7% · 20
- Black or African American0.5% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.1% · 4
- Two or more races0.1% · 2
Popularity
Aracelis: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aracelis from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 220 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
Aracelis 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 Aracelis 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 5 states and territories. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania recorded the most babies named Aracelis, while Illinois, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 99 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aracelis
The name Aracelis is of Spanish origin and dates back to the late 19th century. It is a combination of the Spanish words "ara", meaning "altar", and "celis", derived from the Latin word "caelis", meaning "heavenly" or "celestial". The name can be interpreted to mean "heavenly altar" or "altar of heaven".
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aracelis can be found in the birth records of a small town in the Spanish region of Andalusia in the late 1800s. It is believed that the name was given to a newborn girl by a devout Catholic family as a way to honor their religious faith and the importance of the altar in their daily worship.
While the name Aracelis does not appear to have any direct references in ancient texts or religious scriptures, its connection to the concept of the altar and the heavens aligns with the symbolism and imagery found in various religious and spiritual traditions throughout history.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Aracelis was Aracelis Aramburo (1901-1981), a renowned Cuban poet and writer. Her literary works often explored themes of love, nature, and the human experience, earning her critical acclaim and recognition within the Latin American literary community.
Another prominent figure with the name Aracelis was Aracelis Rivero (1928-2015), a Venezuelan actress and singer. She had a successful career in both film and television, appearing in numerous telenovelas and movies throughout the 20th century.
In the field of politics, Aracelis Salinas (born 1955) is a former member of the Puerto Rican Senate and a prominent figure in the island's political landscape. She served as a senator from 2005 to 2013 and was known for her advocacy work on environmental and social issues.
Aracelis Girmenas (born 1969) is a renowned Spanish chef and cookbook author. She has written several bestselling cookbooks and is widely recognized for her contributions to popularizing traditional Spanish cuisine and elevating it to new heights.
Lastly, Aracelis Rivera (born 1972) is a Puerto Rican-American poet and educator. Her poetry has been widely acclaimed, and she has received numerous awards and honors, including the prestigious Poets Prize and a Guggenheim Fellowship.
People
Aracelis + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aracelis 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
Aracelis: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aracelis?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 997 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aracelis 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 343,786 US residents.
Is Aracelis a common name?
We classify Aracelis as "Very Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,089 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aracelis most popular?
The single biggest year for Aracelis was 1971, when 35 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aracelis is about 40 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aracelis in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,006 people with the name Aracelis, or 1.00 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,629 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 Aracelis 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 Aracelis?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aracelis appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,006 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Aracelis?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracelis is Hispanic at 98.6%. The next largest groups are White (0.7%) 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 Aracelis most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Aracelis in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.6% (2,965 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 Aracelis in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aracelis a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aracelis 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 Aracelis still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aracelis 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 Aracelis 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 Aracelis?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.