Eily
An Irish feminine name from the Gaelic word "aoibh", meaning "beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 420 living Americans carry the first name Eily. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Eily today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Eily births was 2013 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Eily. 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 Eily with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
420
~ 1 in 816,082 Americans
Peak year
2013
26 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,326
Tracked since 1998
Census
Eily in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 404 people with the first name Eily, which placed it at #24,004 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
#24,004
National first-name rank
People counted
404
404 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
67.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Eily
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eily is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Eily 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 Eily at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White67.1% · 271
- Hispanic or Latino22.5% · 91
- Two or more races4.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander3.7% · 15
- Black or African American2.0% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Popularity
Eily: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Eily 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 213 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Eily remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Eily 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 Eily during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Eilys live
Origin
Meaning and history of Eily
The name Eily is derived from the Irish Gaelic name Aoibheall, which means "beautiful" or "radiant." It is a diminutive form of the name Aoibhe, which has its roots in the Old Irish word "oí" meaning "beauty" or "radiance." The name Eily can be traced back to medieval Ireland, where it was commonly used among Irish families.
The earliest recorded use of the name Eily can be found in ancient Irish manuscripts and historical records from the 8th to 12th centuries. One notable example is the Book of Leinster, a medieval Irish manuscript compiled around the 12th century, which mentions the name Eily in several contexts.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Eily. One of the earliest recorded examples is Eily Ní Dhomhnaill, an Irish noblewoman who lived in the 14th century and was known for her patronage of the arts and literature.
Another prominent figure with the name Eily was Eily O'Reilly, an Irish chieftain who lived in the 16th century and played a significant role in the political struggles between the English and Irish during the Tudor conquest of Ireland.
In the 17th century, Eily Butler, an Irish poet and noblewoman, gained recognition for her works, which often celebrated Irish culture and traditions.
Moving into the 18th century, Eily Quin was an Irish actress and playwright who made a name for herself on the London stage, performing in several notable productions.
Lastly, in the 19th century, Eily O'Connell was an Irish activist and advocate for women's rights, known for her involvement in various social and political movements of the time.
While the name Eily may not be as common today as it once was, its rich history and connection to Irish culture and tradition make it a unique and meaningful choice for parents seeking a name with deep roots and significance.
People
Eily + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Eily 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
Eily: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Eily?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 420 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Eily 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 816,082 US residents.
Is Eily a common name?
We classify Eily as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 424 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Eily most popular?
The single biggest year for Eily was 2013, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Eily is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Eily in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 404 people with the name Eily, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,004 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 Eily 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 Eily?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Eily leans strongly female. 382 people counted with this name were female (95.7%), compared with 17 male bearers (4.3%). 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 Eily?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Eily is White at 67.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (22.5%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Eily most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Eily in the 2020 Census, accounting for 67.1% (271 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 Eily in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Eily a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Eily 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 Eily still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Eily 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 Eily 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 called Eily?
You can see how many Americans are named Eily on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.