Abelardo
A masculine name of Spanish origin meaning "obedient to Abel".
Name Census estimates that about 3,890 living Americans carry the first name Abelardo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abelardo today is around 38 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abelardo births was 2002 (99 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abelardo. 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
3.9K
~ 1 in 88,112 Americans
Peak year
2002
99 babies that year
Average age
38
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,944
Tracked since 1914
Census
Abelardo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 6,575 people with the first name Abelardo, which placed it at #3,252 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
#3,252
National first-name rank
People counted
6.6K
6,575 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abelardo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abelardo is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%) and White (1.4%). 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 Abelardo 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 Abelardo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.9% · 5,978
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 470
- White1.4% · 94
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 13
- Two or more races0.2% · 12
- Black or African American0.1% · 8
Popularity
Abelardo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abelardo from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 672 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 1990s peak, Abelardo remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abelardo 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 Abelardo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abelardos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Abelardo, while Washington, Florida, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 482 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abelardo
The name Abelardo originated from the Latin name Abelardus, which itself derived from the Old German name Abalhard, meaning "bright" or "noble." The name gained prominence during the Middle Ages in Europe, particularly in France and Italy.
The earliest recorded use of the name Abelardo dates back to the 11th century. One of the most famous individuals to bear this name was the French philosopher and theologian Peter Abelard (1079-1142), known for his tragic love story with Heloise and his contributions to scholastic philosophy.
In the 12th century, an Italian nobleman named Abelardo da Piacenza (fl. 1150s) was a prominent figure in the city of Piacenza. He served as a diplomat and played a significant role in mediating disputes between the city and the Holy Roman Empire.
Another notable figure was Abelardo I de Alburquerque (c. 1185-1239), a Portuguese nobleman and military leader who participated in the Reconquista against the Moors in the Iberian Peninsula. He was granted the title of Count of Alburquerque for his military achievements.
In the 16th century, Abelardo Lualdi (c. 1510-1573) was an Italian painter and architect from Bergamo. He is best known for his contributions to the Renaissance architectural style in northern Italy.
The name Abelardo also appeared in religious contexts, such as Abelardo de Santa Cruz (1590-1655), a Spanish Roman Catholic priest and missionary who worked in the Philippines and helped establish the Jesuit presence in the region.
While the name Abelardo has its roots in Latin and Old German, it has been used across various European cultures, including French, Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish. Its association with notable figures in philosophy, nobility, military, art, and religion has contributed to its enduring legacy throughout history.
People
Abelardo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abelardo as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Abelardo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abelardo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 3,890 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abelardo 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 88,112 US residents.
Is Abelardo a common name?
We classify Abelardo as "Rare". It ranks above 95.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,772 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abelardo most popular?
The single biggest year for Abelardo was 2002, when 99 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abelardo is about 38 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abelardo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 6,575 people with the name Abelardo, or 2.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #3,252 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 Abelardo 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 Abelardo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abelardo appears almost entirely male. Of the 6,570 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Abelardo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abelardo is Hispanic at 90.9%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%) and White (1.4%). 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 Abelardo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Abelardo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.9% (5,978 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 Abelardo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abelardo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abelardo 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 Abelardo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abelardo 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 Abelardo 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 share the name Abelardo?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.