Ensley
An Old English name of uncertain meaning, possibly related to "clearing" or "meadow."
Name Census estimates that about 3,456 living Americans carry the first name Ensley. It is a predominantly female name (99.5% of registrations). The average person named Ensley today is around 7 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ensley births was 2020 (494 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ensley. 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 Ensley with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ensley is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 7 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
3.5K
~ 1 in 99,177 Americans
Peak year
2020
494 babies that year
Average age
7
years old
2008 SSA rank
#907
Tracked since 1916
Census
Ensley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,710 people with the first name Ensley, which placed it at #8,481 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
#8,481
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,710 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
79.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ensley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ensley is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Ensley 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 Ensley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White79.1% · 1,352
- Hispanic or Latino8.9% · 152
- Two or more races5.4% · 92
- Black or African American5.0% · 85
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.1% · 19
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 10
Gender
Gender distribution for Ensley
Out of the 3,486 babies given the name Ensley since 1880, 99.5% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Ensley as a male name
- Ranked #11,502 in 2008
- 6 male births in 2008
- Peak: 2008 (6 births)
Ensley as a female name
- Ranked #907 in 2024
- 292 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2020 (494 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ensley leans strongly female. 1,614 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 93 male bearers (5.4%).
Popularity
Ensley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ensley from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,792 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ensley 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 Ensley during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ensleys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Ohio recorded the most babies named Ensley, while Nebraska, North Dakota, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 74 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ensley
The name Ensley is of English origin and dates back to the late 16th century. It is believed to be derived from the Old English words "enne" meaning "one" and "ley" meaning "meadow" or "clearing." This suggests that the name may have originally referred to someone who lived near a single meadow or clearing in a forest.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ensley can be found in the parish records of St. Mary's Church in Nottingham, England, where a man named Ensley Woodhouse was baptized in 1592. This provides evidence that the name was in use during the Elizabethan era.
While the name Ensley does not appear to have any direct connections to ancient texts or religious scriptures, it is possible that it was influenced by the Old English name "Aensley," which was derived from the elements "aene" meaning "alone" and "ley" meaning "meadow."
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ensley. One of the earliest was Ensley Heyrick (1577-1647), an English politician who served as a Member of Parliament for Lichfield in the early 17th century.
Another prominent figure was Ensley Moore (1808-1892), an American politician and lawyer who served as the 10th Governor of Alabama from 1857 to 1861. Moore was a staunch supporter of the Confederacy during the American Civil War.
In the realm of sports, Ensley Proctor (1892-1972) was a Canadian ice hockey player who played for the Toronto Blueshirts and the Montreal Canadiens in the early 20th century. He was a member of the Canadiens team that won the Stanley Cup in 1924.
The name Ensley also found its way into the world of literature. Ensley F. Moore (1892-1966) was an American author and poet who published several collections of poetry, including "The Vineyard" and "The House of Quiet."
Finally, Ensley Cunningham (1925-2007) was an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Cunningham Drug Stores chain in Michigan. He was known for his generous philanthropic efforts, particularly in supporting education and medical research.
People
Ensley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ensley 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
Ensley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ensley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,456 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ensley 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 99,177 US residents.
Is Ensley a common name?
We classify Ensley as "Rare". It ranks above 95.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 3,486 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ensley most popular?
The single biggest year for Ensley was 2020, when 494 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ensley is about 7 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ensley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,710 people with the name Ensley, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,481 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 Ensley 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 Ensley?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ensley leans strongly female. 1,614 people counted with this name were female (94.6%), compared with 93 male bearers (5.4%). 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 Ensley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ensley is White at 79.1%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (8.9%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Ensley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ensley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.1% (1,352 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 Ensley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ensley a female name?
Yes, 99.5% of people registered as Ensley 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 Ensley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ensley 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 Ensley 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 Ensley?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.