Abilene
Feminine name meaning "grassy plains" in English.
Name Census estimates that about 1,563 living Americans carry the first name Abilene. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Abilene today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abilene births was 2024 (102 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abilene. 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 Abilene with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Abilene is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.6K
~ 1 in 219,293 Americans
Peak year
2024
102 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,934
Tracked since 1964
Census
Abilene in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,149 people with the first name Abilene, which placed it at #11,266 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
#11,266
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,149 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
46.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abilene
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abilene is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (45.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Abilene 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 Abilene at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White46.3% · 532
- Hispanic or Latino45.1% · 518
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.9% · 33
- Two or more races2.9% · 33
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.6% · 18
- Black or African American1.3% · 15
Popularity
Abilene: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abilene from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 670 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abilene remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abilene 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 Abilene during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abilenes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Texas, California, North Carolina recorded the most babies named Abilene, while Washington, Tennessee, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Abilene
The name Abilene has its roots in the Hebrew language and culture, originating from the biblical name Abimelech, which translates to "father of the king" or "my father is king." The name Abilene is believed to have evolved from the Hebrew name Abila, which was a town mentioned in the Bible located near Damascus.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Abilene can be found in the New Testament of the Bible, where it refers to a region in ancient Syria, which was ruled by a tetrarch named Abilene during the time of Jesus Christ. This region was located near the modern-day city of Damascus in Syria.
In ancient times, the name Abilene was also associated with the city of Abila, which was located in the region of Abilene. This city was known for its strategic location along the trade routes and was an important center for commerce and culture in the region.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Abilene. One of the earliest recorded individuals with this name was Abilene, the tetrarch of the region of Abilene during the time of Jesus Christ, as mentioned in the New Testament.
Another notable figure with the name Abilene was Abilene Trail, an American cattle trail that stretched from Texas to Kansas in the late 19th century. This trail was named after the city of Abilene, Kansas, which was an important hub for cattle drives during that time.
In more recent history, Abilene has been the name of several cities and towns, including Abilene, Texas, which was founded in 1881 and named after the biblical region. The name has also been used by several notable individuals, such as Abilene Cooper, an American country music singer and songwriter born in 1909, and Abilene Christian University, a private Christian university located in Abilene, Texas, founded in 1906.
Other notable individuals with the name Abilene include Abilene Denton, an American actress born in 1982, Abilene Paradies, an American actress and model born in 1974, and Abilene Hernandez, a Mexican-American author and historian born in 1957.
Overall, the name Abilene has a rich history that spans from its biblical origins to its modern-day usage, with a diverse range of individuals bearing this name throughout different eras and cultures.
People
Abilene + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abilene 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
Abilene: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abilene?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,563 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abilene 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 219,293 US residents.
Is Abilene a common name?
We classify Abilene as "Rare". It ranks above 92.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,583 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abilene most popular?
The single biggest year for Abilene was 2024, when 102 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abilene is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abilene in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,149 people with the name Abilene, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,266 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 Abilene 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 Abilene?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abilene appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,149 people counted with this name, 100.0% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Abilene?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abilene is White at 46.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (45.1%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (2.9%). 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 Abilene most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Abilene in the 2020 Census, accounting for 46.3% (532 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 Abilene in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abilene a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abilene in the SSA data are female. 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 Abilene still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abilene 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 Abilene 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 Abilene?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.