Ece
A feminine Turkish name meaning "morning star" or "brilliant."
Name Census estimates that about 86 living Americans carry the first name Ece. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ece today is around 16 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ece births was 2009 (9 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ece. 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 Ece with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ece. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
86
~ 1 in 3,985,516 Americans
Peak year
2009
9 babies that year
Average age
16
years old
2021 SSA rank
#15,891
Tracked since 1995
Census
Ece in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 325 people with the first name Ece, which placed it at #27,889 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
#27,889
National first-name rank
People counted
325
325 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
93.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ece
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ece is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Ece 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 Ece at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White93.5% · 304
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 8
- Two or more races2.2% · 7
- Hispanic or Latino1.5% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 1
Popularity
Ece: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ece from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 44 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ece 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 Ece 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 Ece
The name Ece originates from the Turkish language and culture, with roots dating back to ancient Anatolian civilizations. It is derived from the Old Turkish word "ece," meaning "moon" or "star." This celestial connection reflects the reverence for nature and the cosmos in early Turkish beliefs.
In the early Ottoman period, the name Ece gained popularity among the Turkish nobility and ruling classes. It was often bestowed upon daughters born under auspicious lunar phases or during significant celestial events. The name carried connotations of beauty, grace, and radiance, much like the moon's gentle glow.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ece can be found in the 14th-century Ottoman court chronicles, where it was mentioned as the name of a princess from the Seljuk dynasty. This princess, born in 1325, was renowned for her intelligence and diplomatic skills, serving as an influential figure in the imperial court.
Throughout the centuries, the name Ece has been carried by notable individuals in various fields. One such figure was Ece Ayhan, a celebrated Turkish poet and novelist born in 1923. Her poetic works explored themes of love, identity, and societal critique, earning her a revered place in Turkish literature.
Another prominent bearer of the name was Ece Temelkuran, a Turkish journalist and author born in 1973. Known for her fearless commentary on political and social issues, she has gained international recognition for her books and advocacy for freedom of expression.
In the realm of sports, Ece Varol, a Turkish swimmer born in 1995, has made her mark on the international stage. She has represented Turkey in multiple Olympic Games and won numerous medals at various competitions, becoming a source of national pride.
The name Ece has also transcended borders, with notable figures bearing it in different cultures. Ece Ayhan, a Kurdish-Turkish singer and songwriter born in 1981, has garnered acclaim for her fusion of traditional Kurdish music with contemporary styles.
These examples illustrate the rich history and diverse representation of the name Ece, which has carried meanings of celestial beauty, grace, and achievement across generations and cultures.
People
Ece + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ece as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with E
Other first names starting with E with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Ece: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ece?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 86 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ece 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 3,985,516 US residents.
Is Ece a common name?
We classify Ece as "Very Rare". It ranks above 62.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 87 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ece most popular?
The single biggest year for Ece was 2009, when 9 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ece is about 16 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ece in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 325 people with the name Ece, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,889 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 Ece 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 Ece?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ece leans strongly female. 321 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Ece?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ece is White at 93.5%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (2.5%) and Two or More Races (2.2%). 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 Ece most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ece in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.5% (304 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 Ece in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ece a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ece 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 Ece still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ece 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 Ece 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 common is the name Ece?
See how many people share the name Ece on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.