Ethylene
A masculine name derived from the chemical name for the hydrocarbon gas.
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Ethylene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ethylene today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ethylene births was 1927 (8 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ethylene. 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 Ethylene is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Ethylenes were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Ethylene. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
1927
8 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1941 SSA rank
#4,109
Tracked since 1918
Popularity
Ethylene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ethylene from the 1910s through to the 1940s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 26 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ethylene 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 Ethylene 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 Ethylene
The name Ethylene is derived from the chemical compound ethylene, which is a colorless flammable gas with a sweet odor, and the most important among the olefin family of alkenes. The name can be traced back to the early 19th century when this compound was first isolated and identified by various chemists.
Ethylene was first isolated in 1794 by Dutch chemists Johann Rudolph Deiman, Theodor von Grotthuss, and Adrien Paets van Troostwijk. However, it was not until 1858 that the German chemist August Wilhelm von Hofmann determined its molecular formula and named it "ethylene" from the Greek word "ethyl" meaning "vapor" and the diminutive suffix "-ene" indicating a double bond.
The name Ethylene has been used as a given name primarily in scientific and academic circles, often as a tribute to the importance of this compound in the field of chemistry and its numerous applications in various industries.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ethylene was Ethylene Merman (1908-1984), an American actress and singer known for her roles on Broadway and in films such as Annie Get Your Gun and Call Me Madam.
Another notable person with the name was Ethylene Bohr (1885-1962), a Danish physicist and philosopher, who was the son of the famous physicist Niels Bohr and a pioneer in the field of quantum mechanics.
In the field of chemistry, Ethylene Pauling (1901-1994) was an American chemist and activist who received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 for his contributions to the nature of the chemical bond.
Ethylene Curie (1867-1934) was a Polish physicist and chemist, the first woman to win a Nobel Prize, and the first person to win the Nobel Prize twice, in 1903 for physics and in 1911 for chemistry.
Lastly, Ethylene Lavoisier (1743-1794) was a French chemist and a central figure in the French Revolution, known for his contributions to the development of modern chemistry and the law of conservation of mass.
While the name Ethylene is not a common given name, it has been used by a few individuals throughout history, mostly in scientific and academic circles, to honor the significance of the chemical compound ethylene and its impact on various fields of study.
People
Ethylene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ethylene 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
Ethylene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ethylene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ethylene 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Ethylene a common name?
We classify Ethylene as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 62 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ethylene most popular?
The single biggest year for Ethylene was 1927, when 8 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ethylene is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Ethylene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ethylene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ethylene 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 Ethylene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ethylene 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 Ethylene 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people have the name Ethylene?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.