Aud
A feminine name of Old Norse origin meaning "fortunate, blessed".
Name Census estimates that about 0 living Americans carry the first name Aud. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aud today is around 0 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aud births was 1921 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aud. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Aud. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
0
~ - Americans
Peak year
1921
9 babies that year
Average age
-
1921 SSA rank
#2,996
Tracked since 1919
Census
Aud in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 138 people with the first name Aud, which placed it at #47,373 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
#47,373
National first-name rank
People counted
138
138 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aud
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aud is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Aud 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 Aud at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.1% · 105
- Hispanic or Latino8.0% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.2% · 10
- Black or African American4.3% · 6
- Two or more races2.9% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.4% · 2
Popularity
Aud: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aud from the 1910s through to the 1920s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 9 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
Aud 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 Aud during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aud
The name Aud has its origins in Old Norse, the language spoken by the ancient Scandinavian people. It is derived from the Old Norse word "auðr," which means wealth, prosperity, or good fortune. The name was particularly popular among the Vikings, who valued wealth and success in battle.
Aud was a common name in the Viking Age, which lasted from around the late 8th century to the late 11th century. It was borne by several notable figures in Norse mythology and literature, including Aud the Deep-Minded, a legendary figure who is said to have been one of the first settlers in Iceland after fleeing Norway.
In the Icelandic sagas, which date back to the 13th and 14th centuries, there are several references to women named Aud. One of the most famous was Aud the Deep-Wealthy, who was born around 834 and is credited with being one of the first settlers in Iceland after fleeing Norway due to conflicts with the king.
Another notable figure was Aud Ketilsdottir, who lived in the late 9th century and was one of the first Christian settlers in Iceland. She is mentioned in the Laxdaela Saga, one of the most famous Icelandic sagas.
In the Middle Ages, the name Aud was also used in parts of Scandinavia and the British Isles. One notable bearer was Aud of Norway, a Norwegian princess who lived in the late 12th century and married King William the Lion of Scotland.
As the name spread beyond Scandinavia, it underwent various spelling variations, such as Aude, Audhild, and Audhilda. In the 12th century, there was a French noblewoman named Aude, Countess of Blois, who played a significant role in the Crusades.
Other notable historical figures with the name Aud include Aud Sveinsdottir (1170-1241), a powerful Norwegian noblewoman and landowner, and Aud Iversen (1841-1900), a Norwegian painter and one of the first female artists in Norway to achieve national recognition.
While less common today, the name Aud has persisted in Scandinavia and other parts of the world with Nordic heritage. Its deep historical roots and associations with wealth, prosperity, and female strength have made it a name with enduring cultural significance.
People
Aud + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aud 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
Aud: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aud?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 0 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aud 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 - US residents.
Is Aud a common name?
We classify Aud as "Very Rare". It ranks above 2.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 14 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aud most popular?
The single biggest year for Aud was 1921, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aud is about 0 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aud in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 138 people with the name Aud, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #47,373 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 Aud 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 Aud?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aud leans strongly female. 112 people counted with this name were female (82.4%), compared with 24 male bearers (17.6%). 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 Aud?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aud is White at 76.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.2%). 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 Aud most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aud in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.1% (105 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 Aud in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aud a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aud 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 Aud still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aud 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 Aud 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 Aud?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.