Macaulay
A Scottish masculine name meaning "son of the unfortunate".
Name Census estimates that about 259 living Americans carry the first name Macaulay. It is a predominantly male name (94.3% of registrations). The average person named Macaulay today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Macaulay births was 1992 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Macaulay. 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
259
~ 1 in 1,323,376 Americans
Peak year
1992
36 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,517
Tracked since 1990
Gender
Gender distribution for Macaulay
Macaulay leans heavily male at 94.3% of total registrations, but 15 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Macaulay as a male name
- Ranked #7,517 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (36 births)
Macaulay as a female name
- Ranked #14,789 in 1994
- 5 female births in 1994
- Peak: 1991 (10 births)
Popularity
Macaulay: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Macaulay from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 143 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Macaulay remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Macaulay 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 Macaulay during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Macaulays live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Iowa, Ohio recorded the most babies named Macaulay, while Ohio, Iowa, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 5 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Macaulay
The name Macaulay has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language, derived from the words "mac" meaning "son" and "aulay" meaning "servant of the fire." It is believed to have emerged as a personal name in the 12th century among Scottish clans, particularly in the Highlands region.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Macaulay can be found in the Scottish Ragman Rolls of 1296, where it appears as "Makcouluoch." This document recorded individuals who swore allegiance to King Edward I of England during his conquest of Scotland.
In the 16th century, the name gained prominence with Aulay Macaulay, a Scottish chieftain who led the Macaulay clan in the West Highlands. His descendants played a significant role in Scottish history, with several notable figures bearing the name.
One of the most famous individuals with the name Macaulay was Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), a British historian, essayist, and politician. He is renowned for his influential work, "The History of England from the Accession of James II," which established him as a prominent literary figure of the Victorian era.
Another notable individual was Aulay Macaulay (1758-1819), a Scottish chemist and surgeon who served in the British East India Company. He made significant contributions to the study of natural history and the exploration of the Indian subcontinent.
In the field of literature, Rose Macaulay (1881-1958) was a British novelist and essayist known for her satirical works, including "The Towers of Trebizond" and "The World My Wilderness."
The name Macaulay also found its way into the world of art through Donald Macaulay (1906-1989), a British painter and illustrator renowned for his architectural drawings and illustrations of Roman ruins.
While the name Macaulay has Scottish origins, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries, due to the influence of the British Empire and the historical connections between Scotland and other regions.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Macaulay
People
Macaulay + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Macaulay as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with M
Other first names starting with M with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Macaulay: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Macaulay?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 259 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Macaulay 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 1,323,376 US residents.
Is Macaulay a common name?
We classify Macaulay as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 264 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Macaulay most popular?
The single biggest year for Macaulay was 1992, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Macaulay is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Macaulay a male name?
Yes, 94.3% of people registered as Macaulay in the SSA data are male. 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.
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.