Ayers
A variant form of the name Ayres, derived from the Old English element 'egar' meaning meadow dweller.
Name Census estimates that about 11 living Americans carry the first name Ayers. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ayers today is around 2 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ayers births was 2024 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ayers. 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 Ayers. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
11
~ 1 in 31,159,485 Americans
Peak year
2024
6 babies that year
Average age
2
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,052
Tracked since 2023
Popularity
Ayers: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ayers 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 Ayers during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 11 | 0 | 11 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ayers
The name Ayers has its origins in the English language and is derived from the occupational surname "air" or "ayre," referring to someone who lived by or near an airfield or landing strip. The earliest recorded use of the name Ayers dates back to the 13th century in England.
In medieval times, the name Ayers was often associated with families who lived near airfields or open spaces where falcons and hawks were trained for hunting. The name may have also been given to those who worked as falconers or bird trainers.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ayers was John Ayers, a English knight who fought in the Battle of Crecy during the Hundred Years' War in 1346. Another notable figure was Sir Robert Ayers, a prominent landowner and member of the English Parliament in the 15th century.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ayers gained popularity among the English gentry and nobility. In 1564, Sir Thomas Ayers was appointed as the Lord Mayor of London, and his family's coat of arms featured a falcon, symbolizing their connection to falconry.
In the 17th century, the name Ayers appeared in various literary works, including William Shakespeare's play "The Merry Wives of Windsor," where a character named Master Ayers is mentioned.
One of the most famous historical figures with the first name Ayers was Ayers Waddell, an American Revolutionary War soldier who fought alongside General George Washington. He was born in 1737 and died in 1818.
Another notable individual was Ayers Bagly, an English architect and builder who designed several notable buildings in London during the late 18th century, including the Haymarket Theatre (1766) and the King's Bench Prison (1779).
In the 19th century, Ayers Hitchcock was an American politician and lawyer who served as a United States Representative from Ohio from 1853 to 1855.
Ayers Rock, also known as Uluru, a famous sandstone monolith in the Northern Territory of Australia, was named after Henry Ayers, a former Premier of South Australia, in 1873.
People
Ayers + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ayers 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
Ayers: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ayers?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 11 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ayers 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 31,159,485 US residents.
Is Ayers a common name?
We classify Ayers as "Very Rare". It ranks above 30.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 11 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ayers most popular?
The single biggest year for Ayers was 2024, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ayers is about 2 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ayers in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ayers a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ayers 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 Ayers still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ayers 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 Ayers 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are named Ayers?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.