Find out how popular the last name Ainslie is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Ainslie.

Ainslie, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Ainslie surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Ainslie in America

Ainslie is the 24648th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Ainslie surname appeared 1,013 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 0 people would have the surname Ainslie.

We can also compare 2010 data for Ainslie to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Ainslie

The surname Ainslie is of Scottish origin, derived from the place name Enslie or Ainslie in Berwickshire, Scotland. This place name likely stems from the Old English words "an" meaning "one" and "leah" meaning "woodland clearing or meadow."

The earliest recorded instance of the surname Ainslie appears in the Ragman Rolls of 1296, which lists those who swore fealty to King Edward I of England. The name is spelled as "Aynslie" in these records. Other early spellings include Anislie, Ainsleye, and Aynsley.

In the 16th century, a notable bearer of the Ainslie name was Sir Robert Ainslie (1508-1587), a Scottish lawyer and diplomat who served as the Lord Advocate of Scotland under Mary, Queen of Scots. He was also the owner of the lands of Dolphingston in East Lothian.

Another significant figure was Sir Robert Ainslie (1730-1804), a British diplomat and ambassador to the Ottoman Empire from 1776 to 1792. He played a crucial role in negotiating treaties and facilitating trade between Britain and Turkey.

In the literary world, Hew Ainslie (1792-1878) was a Scottish poet and songwriter, known for his works such as "The Pilgrims of the Sun" and "A Border Garland." He was born in Darnick, Roxburghshire, and spent much of his life in Edinburgh.

The surname Ainslie is also associated with place names, such as Ainslie Park in Edinburgh, Scotland, and the suburb of Ainslie in Canberra, Australia, which was named after James Ainslie (1767-1836), a Scottish landowner and merchant.

Another notable bearer of the Ainslie name was Sir Robert Ainslie (1776-1865), a British military officer who served in the Napoleonic Wars and later became a Member of Parliament for Pembrokeshire.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Ainslie

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Ainslie.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Ainslie was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Ainslie has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Ainslie was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Ainslie, please contact us.

Reference this page

We spend a lot of resources downloading, cleaning, merging, and formatting the data that is shown on the site.

If you found the data or information on this page useful in your research, please use the tool below to properly cite or reference Name Census as the source. We appreciate your support!