Xylon
Name of Greek origin related to wood or timber.
Name Census estimates that about 229 living Americans carry the first name Xylon. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Xylon today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Xylon births was 2023 (25 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Xylon. 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
229
~ 1 in 1,496,744 Americans
Peak year
2023
25 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,860
Tracked since 1989
Census
Xylon in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 173 people with the first name Xylon, which placed it at #41,949 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
#41,949
National first-name rank
People counted
173
173 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
51.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Xylon
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xylon is Black at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (18.5%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Xylon 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 Xylon at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American51.4% · 89
- White18.5% · 32
- Hispanic or Latino14.5% · 25
- Two or more races10.4% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander5.2% · 9
Popularity
Xylon: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Xylon from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 95 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Xylon remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Xylon 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 Xylon 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 Xylon
The name Xylon has its roots in ancient Greek, where it was derived from the word 'xylon,' meaning 'wood' or 'timber.' This name likely originated in the ancient Greek-speaking regions of the Mediterranean during the classical era, between the 8th century BCE and the 6th century CE.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Xylon can be found in the works of the ancient Greek philosopher Theophrastus, who lived from 371 BCE to 287 BCE. In his botanical treatises, Theophrastus made references to various types of wood, using the term 'xylon' to describe them.
In the Byzantine Empire, which lasted from the 4th century CE to the 15th century CE, the name Xylon was occasionally given to individuals, possibly as a nod to the classical Greek heritage or as a reference to a person's occupation or connection with wood or forestry.
One notable figure named Xylon was a Byzantine scholar and monk who lived in the 11th century CE. He is known for his commentaries on ancient Greek texts and his work in preserving classical literature during a time when many manuscripts were being lost or destroyed.
Another historical figure bearing the name Xylon was a Greek artist and sculptor active in the 5th century BCE. He is credited with creating several notable works of art, including a statue of the goddess Athena that was once displayed in the city of Athens.
In the 16th century CE, a Greek philosopher and mathematician named Xylon Theophrastus lived and worked in the city of Constantinople (modern-day Istanbul). He is known for his contributions to the study of geometry and his work on the properties of conic sections.
During the Renaissance period in Europe, the name Xylon saw some limited use, perhaps as a nod to the classical Greek heritage that was being revived during that time. One notable figure from this era was Xylon Cantacuzene, a Greek scholar and diplomat who lived from 1492 to 1568 and served as an ambassador for the Republic of Venice.
While not a common name in modern times, the name Xylon has a rich history and connection to ancient Greek language and culture, as well as to the study of botany, art, and mathematics throughout various eras.
People
Xylon + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Xylon as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with X
Other first names starting with X with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Xylon: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Xylon?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 229 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Xylon 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 1,496,744 US residents.
Is Xylon a common name?
We classify Xylon as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 231 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Xylon most popular?
The single biggest year for Xylon was 2023, when 25 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Xylon 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 Xylon in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 173 people with the name Xylon, or 0.06 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #41,949 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 Xylon 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 Xylon?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Xylon appears almost entirely male. Of the 165 people counted with this name, 100.0% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Xylon?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Xylon is Black at 51.4%. The next largest groups are White (18.5%) and Hispanic (14.5%). 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 Xylon most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Xylon in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.4% (89 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 Xylon in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Xylon a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Xylon 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 Xylon still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Xylon 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 Xylon 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 Xylon?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.