Macauley
A Scottish name derived from a Gaelic surname meaning "son of the tonsured servant".
Name Census estimates that about 279 living Americans carry the first name Macauley. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 89.4% of registrations being male. The average person named Macauley today is around 24 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Macauley births was 1992 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Macauley. 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 Macauley with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
279
~ 1 in 1,228,510 Americans
Peak year
1992
34 babies that year
Average age
24
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,518
Tracked since 1991
Census
Macauley in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 325 people with the first name Macauley, which placed it at #27,889 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
#27,889
National first-name rank
People counted
325
325 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
78.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Macauley
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Macauley is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.4%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Macauley 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 Macauley at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White78.5% · 255
- Black or African American7.4% · 24
- Hispanic or Latino6.5% · 21
- Two or more races5.2% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.2% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Macauley
Macauley leans heavily male at 89.4% of total registrations, but 30 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Macauley as a male name
- Ranked #7,518 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1992 (24 births)
Macauley as a female name
- Ranked #15,564 in 1998
- 5 female births in 1998
- Peak: 1992 (10 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Macauley on both sides of the split. Of the 327 people counted with this name, 253 were male (77.4%) and 74 were female (22.6%).
Popularity
Macauley: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Macauley 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 147 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Macauley 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 Macauley 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 Macauley
The name Macauley is believed to have its origins in the Gaelic language, specifically from the Scottish Highlands. It is derived from the Gaelic name "MacAmhalghaidh," which means "son of the servant of St. Aulay." St. Aulay, also known as St. Olaf, was a Norwegian king who lived in the 11th century and was venerated as a martyr and saint.
In the early Middle Ages, the name Macauley was primarily found in Scotland and Ireland, where it was used by families with ties to the clans and territories associated with St. Aulay's cult. The earliest recorded instances of the name date back to the 12th and 13th centuries, appearing in various charters and historical documents from these regions.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Macauley was Gillespie Macauley, a Scottish chieftain who lived in the 14th century. He was a notable figure in the Clan Macauley and played a role in the conflicts between the Scottish clans during that period.
Another prominent figure in history with the name Macauley was Thomas Babington Macaulay (1800-1859), a British historian, essayist, and politician. He is best known for his influential work, "The History of England," which chronicled the history of England from the accession of James II in 1685 to the reign of William III in 1702.
In the 19th century, Aulay Macaulay (1853-1902) was a Scottish doctor and explorer who made significant contributions to the field of tropical medicine. He served as a medical officer in West Africa and conducted extensive research on diseases like malaria and yellow fever.
More recently, Steven Macauley (1957-2003) was an American author known for his novels and short stories. His works often explored themes of family, relationships, and the complexities of modern life.
Another notable figure was Rose Macaulay (1881-1958), an English writer best known for her novels and travel literature. Her works often dealt with themes of feminism, pacifism, and social commentary.
Throughout history, the name Macauley has been borne by individuals from various walks of life, including scholars, writers, explorers, and political figures. While its origins can be traced back to the Scottish Highlands and the cult of St. Aulay, the name has gained recognition and significance across different cultures and time periods.
People
Macauley + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Macauley 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
Macauley: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Macauley?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 279 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Macauley 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 1,228,510 US residents.
Is Macauley a common name?
We classify Macauley as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 284 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Macauley most popular?
The single biggest year for Macauley was 1992, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Macauley is about 24 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Macauley in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 325 people with the name Macauley, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #27,889 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 Macauley 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 Macauley?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Macauley on both sides of the split. Of the 327 people counted with this name, 253 were male (77.4%) and 74 were female (22.6%). 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 Macauley?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Macauley is White at 78.5%. The next largest groups are Black (7.4%) and Hispanic (6.5%). 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 Macauley most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Macauley in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.5% (255 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 Macauley in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Macauley a male name?
Yes, 89.4% of people registered as Macauley 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.
Is Macauley still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Macauley 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 Macauley 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 Macauley?
See how many people share the name Macauley on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.