Azure
A feminine name of French origin meaning "sky blue".
Name Census estimates that about 2,003 living Americans carry the first name Azure. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 80.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Azure today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Azure births was 1975 (121 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Azure. 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
2.0K
~ 1 in 171,120 Americans
Peak year
1975
121 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,603
Tracked since 1975
Census
Azure in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,646 people with the first name Azure, which placed it at #8,734 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
#8,734
National first-name rank
People counted
1.6K
1,646 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Azure
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Azure is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Hispanic (12.1%). 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 Azure 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 Azure at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.2% · 842
- Black or African American22.6% · 372
- Hispanic or Latino12.1% · 199
- Two or more races10.1% · 167
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.7% · 45
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.3% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Azure
Azure leans heavily female at 80.1% of total registrations, but 412 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Azure as a male name
- Ranked #3,603 in 2024
- 31 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (31 births)
Azure as a female name
- Ranked #4,773 in 2024
- 28 female births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (121 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Azure leans strongly female. 1,375 people counted with this name were female (83.3%), compared with 275 male bearers (16.7%).
Popularity
Azure: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Azure from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 505 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Azure remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Azure 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 Azure during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Azures live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, Texas, Indiana recorded the most babies named Azure, while Wisconsin, Ohio, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 18 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Azure
The name Azure has its origins in the Persian language, derived from the word 'lazhuward' which means 'blue'. It is believed to have originated sometime in the 6th century AD, during the Sassanid era in ancient Persia (modern-day Iran).
The name gained popularity in Europe during the Middle Ages, likely due to the influence of trade routes between the Middle East and Europe. The term 'azure' was adopted into Old French, and later into English, to describe the rich blue color associated with the semi-precious stone lapis lazuli, which was highly prized and traded along the Silk Road.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Azure can be found in the Persian epic poem 'Shahnameh' (Book of Kings), written by the renowned poet Ferdowsi in the late 10th century. In this epic, Azure is mentioned as the name of a beautiful princess.
Throughout history, the name Azure has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded bearers was Azure, a 12th-century Persian poet and mystic whose works explored themes of love and spirituality. Another prominent figure was Azure Al-Bukhari, a 13th-century Islamic scholar and philosopher from Bukhara (modern-day Uzbekistan).
In the realm of art and literature, Azure Titian was an Italian Renaissance painter active in the 16th century, known for her vivid use of blue hues in her works. Azure Shelley, born in 1792, was the daughter of the renowned English Romantic poet Percy Bysshe Shelley and his wife Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley.
More recently, Azure Adair was an American actress and singer born in 1915, who appeared in several Hollywood films during the 1940s and 1950s. Azure Korine, born in 1974, is an American artist and writer, best known for her experimental film and video works.
People
Azure + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Azure 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
Azure: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Azure?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,003 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Azure 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 171,120 US residents.
Is Azure a common name?
We classify Azure as "Rare". It ranks above 93.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,069 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Azure most popular?
The single biggest year for Azure was 1975, when 121 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Azure is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Azure in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,646 people with the name Azure, or 0.54 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,734 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 Azure 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 Azure?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Azure leans strongly female. 1,375 people counted with this name were female (83.3%), compared with 275 male bearers (16.7%). 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 Azure?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Azure is White at 51.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.6%) and Hispanic (12.1%). 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 Azure most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Azure in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.2% (842 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 Azure in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Azure a female name?
Yes, 80.1% of people registered as Azure 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 Azure still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Azure 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 Azure 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 Azure?
Find out how many people share the name Azure on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.