Eilleen
A feminine name of unknown origin, possibly related to Helen.
Name Census estimates that about 234 living Americans carry the first name Eilleen. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eilleen today is around 55 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eilleen births was 1916 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eilleen. 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
234
~ 1 in 1,464,762 Americans
Peak year
1916
16 babies that year
Average age
55
years old
2018 SSA rank
#14,294
Tracked since 1915
Census
Eilleen in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 415 people with the first name Eilleen, which placed it at #23,539 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
#23,539
National first-name rank
People counted
415
415 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
54.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eilleen
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eilleen is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%). 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 Eilleen 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 Eilleen at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White54.7% · 227
- Hispanic or Latino27.2% · 113
- Asian and Pacific Islander10.4% · 43
- Black or African American5.3% · 22
- Two or more races1.4% · 6
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Popularity
Eilleen: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eilleen from the 1910s through to the 2010s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 105 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
Eilleen 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 Eilleen during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eilleens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Eilleen
The name Eilleen is derived from the Irish Gaelic name Eibhlín or Aidhlín, which ultimately comes from the Old Irish names Aíbelén or Aidlén. These names are thought to be derived from the ancient Celtic word "aidle" or "aibell," meaning "from the green meadow" or "daughter of the greenwood." The name has been in use in Ireland since at least the 7th century AD.
In its earliest forms, the name was spelled in various ways, such as Aibhilin, Aibhilín, and Aibhilíne. It was a popular name among Irish families, particularly in the northern regions of the country. The name's connection to nature and the greenwood likely contributed to its appeal in the ancient Celtic culture.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name appears in the Annals of Ulster, a chronicle of medieval Irish history. In the year 682, a woman named Aibhilín is mentioned as the abbess of the monastery of Cluain Conaire (modern-day Clonary, County Westmeath).
Throughout history, several notable women have borne the name Eilleen or its variants. One of the most famous was Eilleen O'Connell (1909-1999), an Irish-American actress and singer who appeared in numerous films and stage productions during the 1930s and 1940s.
Another prominent figure was Eilleen Power (1889-1940), an English historian and medievalist who made significant contributions to the study of medieval women's history. Her works, such as "Medieval English Nunneries" and "Medieval People," are considered seminal texts in the field.
In the literary world, Eilleen Ni Chuilleanain (born 1942) is an acclaimed Irish poet and translator. She has published numerous collections of poetry, including "The Brazen Serpent" and "The Girl Who Married the Reindeer," and has received numerous awards for her work.
Eilleen Nearne (1921-2010) was a British special operations agent during World War II. She was captured and imprisoned by the Nazis but survived and went on to receive the Croix de Guerre and the French Légion d'honneur for her bravery.
Eilleen McCallion (1926-2018) was an Irish politician and social activist who served as an independent Member of Parliament in the UK for over three decades. She was a fierce advocate for the rights of the Irish community in London and was awarded the Freedom of the City of London in recognition of her work.
People
Eilleen + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eilleen 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
Eilleen: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eilleen?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 234 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eilleen 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 1,464,762 US residents.
Is Eilleen a common name?
We classify Eilleen as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 503 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eilleen most popular?
The single biggest year for Eilleen was 1916, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eilleen is about 55 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eilleen in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 415 people with the name Eilleen, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,539 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 Eilleen 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 Eilleen?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eilleen leans strongly female. 412 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 5 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Eilleen?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eilleen is White at 54.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (27.2%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (10.4%). 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 Eilleen most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eilleen in the 2020 Census, accounting for 54.7% (227 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 Eilleen in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eilleen a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eilleen 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 Eilleen still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eilleen 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 Eilleen 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 have Eilleen as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.