Celene
A feminine name derived from the Greek name Selene, meaning "moon".
Name Census estimates that about 1,566 living Americans carry the first name Celene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Celene today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Celene births was 1993 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Celene. 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 Celene with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 218,873 Americans
Peak year
1993
102 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,020
Tracked since 1917
Census
Celene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,043 people with the first name Celene, which placed it at #7,466 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
#7,466
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,043 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
63.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Celene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Celene is Hispanic at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Celene 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 Celene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino63.8% · 1,303
- White23.3% · 477
- Black or African American6.8% · 139
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.6% · 73
- Two or more races1.6% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.9% · 18
Popularity
Celene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Celene from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 608 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Celene 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 Celene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Celenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 6 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Celene, while Florida, Arizona, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 111 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Celene
The name Celene has its origins in the Greek language, deriving from the word "selene," which means "moon." This celestial connection traces back to ancient Greek mythology, where Selene was the personification of the moon, often depicted as a beautiful woman with a crescent moon on her brow.
In Greek mythology, Selene was the daughter of the Titans Hyperion and Theia, and she was considered the goddess of the moon. Her chariot, pulled by two winged horses, crossed the heavens each night, guiding the moon on its celestial journey. The name Celene, as a variant of Selene, carries this mythological heritage and the association with lunar symbols and deities.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Celene can be found in ancient Greek texts and records, although its use was relatively rare compared to the more common Selene. One notable historical figure bearing this name was Celene of Syracuse, a Greek woman who lived in the 4th century BCE and was renowned for her skill in developing a special type of combustible compound used in warfare.
Throughout history, the name Celene has appeared sporadically, often borne by individuals with connections to the arts, literature, or astronomy. For example, Celene Monsef was a 19th-century French painter known for her portraits and landscapes, while Celene Humphries was an English writer and poet active in the early 20th century.
Other notable individuals named Celene include Celene Navarrete, a Mexican actress born in 1986, who has appeared in various telenovelas and films. Additionally, Celene Bridge was a Canadian astronomer and astrophysicist born in 1944, who made significant contributions to the study of star formation and the interstellar medium.
In more recent times, the name Celene has gained popularity as a unique and aesthetically pleasing choice, often chosen by parents who appreciate its celestial connections and the rich mythological heritage associated with the Greek moon goddess Selene.
People
Celene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Celene as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with C
Other first names starting with C with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Celene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Celene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,566 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Celene 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 218,873 US residents.
Is Celene a common name?
We classify Celene as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,738 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Celene most popular?
The single biggest year for Celene was 1993, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Celene is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Celene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,043 people with the name Celene, or 0.68 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,466 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 Celene 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 Celene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Celene appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,034 people counted with this name, 99.5% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Celene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Celene is Hispanic at 63.8%. The next largest groups are White (23.3%) and Black (6.8%). 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 Celene most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Celene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 63.8% (1,303 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 Celene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Celene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Celene 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 Celene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Celene 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 Celene 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 Americans are named Celene?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.