Ascension
The rising or ascending to an exalted state or position.
Name Census estimates that about 45 living Americans carry the first name Ascension. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 63.9% of registrations being male. The average person named Ascension today is around 70 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ascension births was 1924 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ascension. 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
- • The typical person named Ascension is about 70 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ascensions were born before 1966.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ascension. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
45
~ 1 in 7,616,763 Americans
Peak year
1924
18 babies that year
Average age
70
years old
1991 SSA rank
#4,737
Tracked since 1914
Census
Ascension in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 582 people with the first name Ascension, which placed it at #18,495 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
#18,495
National first-name rank
People counted
582
582 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ascension
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ascension is Hispanic at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Ascension 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 Ascension at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.5% · 527
- White3.4% · 20
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 15
- Black or African American2.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 7
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Ascension
Ascension is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 144 total registrations, 92 (63.9%) were male and 52 (36.1%) were female.
Ascension as a male name
- Ranked #8,306 in 1991
- 5 male births in 1991
- Peak: 1924 (9 births)
Ascension as a female name
- Ranked #4,737 in 1943
- 5 female births in 1943
- Peak: 1930 (11 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ascension on both sides of the split. Of the 580 people counted with this name, 391 were male (67.4%) and 189 were female (32.6%).
Popularity
Ascension: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ascension from the 1910s through to the 1990s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 40 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ascension 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 Ascension during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ascensions live
Origin
Meaning and history of Ascension
The name Ascension has its origins in the Late Latin word "ascensio," which means "a rising" or "an ascent." This name is closely associated with the Christian religious observance of the Ascension, commemorating the bodily ascension of Jesus Christ into heaven after his resurrection. It is derived from the Latin verb "ascendere," meaning "to climb up" or "to ascend."
The earliest recorded use of the name Ascension dates back to the 4th century CE, when it was mentioned in religious texts and manuscripts related to the Christian faith. It gained popularity in various regions of Europe and the Mediterranean during the Middle Ages, particularly in areas where Christianity had a strong influence.
One of the earliest notable individuals with the name Ascension was Saint Ascension of Lerins, a 5th-century monk and abbot who lived on the island of Lérins, off the coast of southern France. He is venerated as a saint in the Catholic Church and is celebrated on May 16th.
Another prominent figure with this name was Ascension Hernández de Mendoza, a 16th-century Spanish mystic and writer who lived from 1537 to 1604. She is known for her spiritual writings and her contributions to the Catholic spiritual literature of her time.
In the 17th century, Ascension Polanco was a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary who worked in the Philippines. He was born in 1612 and died in 1690, and he is remembered for his efforts in evangelizing and educating the indigenous population.
During the 18th century, Ascension Fernández de Castro y Andrade was a Spanish nobleman and military officer who served as the Viceroy of New Spain (present-day Mexico) from 1790 to 1794. He played a significant role in the colonial administration of the Spanish Empire in the Americas.
In more recent times, Ascension Esquivel Ibarra was a Mexican politician and diplomat who lived from 1926 to 2018. He served as the Secretary of Foreign Affairs of Mexico from 1982 to 1988 and played a crucial role in international relations during that period.
While the name Ascension has been used primarily in Christian cultures and regions with a strong Catholic or Protestant influence, its meaning and historical significance are deeply rooted in the Christian tradition, commemorating one of the most significant events in the life of Jesus Christ.
People
Ascension + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ascension 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
Ascension: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ascension?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 45 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ascension 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 7,616,763 US residents.
Is Ascension a common name?
We classify Ascension as "Very Rare". It ranks above 52.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 144 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ascension most popular?
The single biggest year for Ascension was 1924, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ascension is about 70 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ascension in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 582 people with the name Ascension, or 0.19 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #18,495 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 Ascension 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 Ascension?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ascension on both sides of the split. Of the 580 people counted with this name, 391 were male (67.4%) and 189 were female (32.6%). 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 Ascension?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ascension is Hispanic at 90.5%. The next largest groups are White (3.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.6%). 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 Ascension most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ascension in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.5% (527 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 Ascension in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ascension a male name?
Yes, 63.9% of people registered as Ascension in the SSA data are male. 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 Ascension still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ascension 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 Ascension 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 Ascension?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Ascension on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.