Aslan
A Persian name meaning "lion" in Turkish and several other languages.
Name Census estimates that about 1,516 living Americans carry the first name Aslan. It is a predominantly male name (94.1% of registrations). The average person named Aslan today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aslan births was 2024 (210 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aslan. 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 Aslan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Aslan is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 10 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 226,091 Americans
Peak year
2024
210 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,046
Tracked since 1979
Census
Aslan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,035 people with the first name Aslan, which placed it at #12,140 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
#12,140
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,035 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
64.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aslan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aslan is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Two or More Races (9.1%). 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 Aslan 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 Aslan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White64.3% · 665
- Hispanic or Latino12.9% · 134
- Two or more races9.1% · 94
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 75
- Black or African American5.6% · 58
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Aslan
Aslan leans heavily male at 94.1% of total registrations, but 90 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Aslan as a male name
- Ranked #1,046 in 2024
- 210 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (210 births)
Aslan as a female name
- Ranked #15,542 in 2021
- 5 female births in 2021
- Peak: 2007 (8 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aslan leans strongly male. 905 people counted with this name were male (87.7%), compared with 127 female bearers (12.3%).
Popularity
Aslan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aslan from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 692 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aslan 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 Aslan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aslans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 16 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Aslan, while North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aslan
The name Aslan is derived from the Turkish word "aslan," which means "lion." It is believed to have originated during the time of the Ottoman Empire, which ruled over a vast territory spanning parts of Europe, Asia, and Africa from the 13th to the early 20th century.
The name Aslan has its roots in the Persian language, where the word "shir" means lion. This word eventually evolved into the Turkish word "aslan" and became a popular name among the Turkish people. The lion has long been a symbol of strength, courage, and power in many cultures, and the name Aslan reflects these qualities.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Aslan can be found in the epic poem "The Book of Dede Korkut," which is considered one of the oldest known literary works in the Turkish language. This work, which dates back to the 9th or 10th century, features a hero named Aslan, who is depicted as a brave and valiant warrior.
In the 20th century, the name Aslan gained widespread recognition through the works of C.S. Lewis, the British author best known for the Chronicles of Narnia series. In these beloved children's fantasy novels, Aslan is the name of the Great Lion, who serves as a central figure and represents the embodiment of divine power and wisdom.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Aslan. One of the most famous was Aslan Pasha (1519-1571), an Ottoman statesman and military commander who served as the Grand Vizier (chief minister) under Sultan Suleiman the Magnificent. Another prominent figure was Aslan Amat Baatyr (1693-1755), a Kazakh military leader and khan who played a significant role in the resistance against the Dzungar Khanate.
Other notable individuals with the name Aslan include Aslan Maskhadov (1951-2005), a Chechen rebel leader and former President of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria, and Aslan Karatsev (born 1993), a professional tennis player from Russia who has achieved notable success on the ATP Tour.
Overall, the name Aslan has a rich history rooted in Turkish and Persian cultures, symbolizing strength, courage, and leadership. Its association with the iconic lion character in the Chronicles of Narnia has further cemented its place in popular culture and contributed to its enduring appeal across generations.
People
Aslan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aslan 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
Aslan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aslan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,516 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aslan 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 226,091 US residents.
Is Aslan a common name?
We classify Aslan as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,529 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aslan most popular?
The single biggest year for Aslan was 2024, when 210 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aslan is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aslan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,035 people with the name Aslan, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,140 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 Aslan 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 Aslan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aslan leans strongly male. 905 people counted with this name were male (87.7%), compared with 127 female bearers (12.3%). 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 Aslan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aslan is White at 64.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (12.9%) and Two or More Races (9.1%). 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 Aslan most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aslan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 64.3% (665 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 Aslan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aslan a male name?
Yes, 94.1% of people registered as Aslan 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 Aslan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aslan 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 Aslan 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 Aslan?
Find out how many people share the name Aslan on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.