Eileene
A feminine name derived from the Greek meaning "bright, shining light".
Name Census estimates that about 124 living Americans carry the first name Eileene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eileene today is around 69 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eileene births was 1925 (31 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eileene. 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
- • The typical person named Eileene is about 69 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Eileenes were born before 1967.
People living today
124
~ 1 in 2,764,148 Americans
Peak year
1925
31 babies that year
Average age
69
years old
2010 SSA rank
#17,783
Tracked since 1911
Census
Eileene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 261 people with the first name Eileene, which placed it at #32,310 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
#32,310
National first-name rank
People counted
261
261 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
66.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eileene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eileene is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Eileene 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 Eileene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White66.7% · 174
- Hispanic or Latino19.2% · 50
- Black or African American6.5% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.2% · 11
- Two or more races3.1% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Eileene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eileene from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 201 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eileene 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 Eileene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eileenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. Ohio, Illinois, Michigan recorded the most babies named Eileene, while Pennsylvania, Michigan, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Eileene
The name Eileene is a variant spelling of the Irish name Eileen, which is derived from the ancient Irish name Aidlín or Aoiblín. The original Irish name is thought to be a combination of the Celtic words "ail" meaning "beauty" and "ín" meaning "little one" or a diminutive suffix. So, the name Eileene essentially means "little beauty" or "beautiful one" in its Irish origins.
The earliest known recorded use of the name Eileen dates back to the late 16th century in Ireland. One of the first notable bearers of this name was Eileen O'Connell, an Irish noblewoman born in the late 1500s. She was known for her beauty and was the subject of many poems and songs during her lifetime.
Another early bearer of the name was Eileen O'Doherty, an Irish rebel who fought against English rule in the early 17th century. She was a prominent figure in the Irish Rebellion of 1641 and was celebrated for her bravery and leadership.
In the 18th century, the name Eileen gained popularity among the Irish diaspora, with many Irish immigrants to America and other parts of the world naming their daughters Eileen or variants like Eileene. One notable bearer was Eileen O'Reilly, an Irish-American writer and activist born in 1796 in Philadelphia, who advocated for Irish independence and women's rights.
The 19th century saw the name Eileen become more widespread, with several notable bearers emerging. Eileen McDermott (1832-1918) was an Irish-American educator and philanthropist who founded several schools and charities in New York City. Eileen Quinn (1867-1942) was an Irish writer and journalist who published several works of fiction and non-fiction.
In the 20th century, the name Eileene remained a popular variant spelling, particularly in the United States. One notable bearer was Eileene Gerson (1919-2005), an American actress and dancer who appeared in several Broadway productions and Hollywood films in the 1940s and 1950s.
People
Eileene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eileene 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
Eileene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eileene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 124 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eileene 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 2,764,148 US residents.
Is Eileene a common name?
We classify Eileene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 548 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eileene most popular?
The single biggest year for Eileene was 1925, when 31 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eileene is about 69 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eileene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 261 people with the name Eileene, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #32,310 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 Eileene 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 Eileene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eileene appears almost entirely female. Of the 256 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Eileene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eileene is White at 66.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.2%) and Black (6.5%). 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 Eileene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eileene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.7% (174 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 Eileene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eileene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eileene 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 Eileene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eileene 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 Eileene 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 share the name Eileene?
You can see how many Americans are named Eileene on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.