Acelyn
An English feminine name derived from the Latin word "aquila" meaning "eagle".
Name Census estimates that about 677 living Americans carry the first name Acelyn. It is a predominantly female name (92.4% of registrations). The average person named Acelyn today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Acelyn births was 2018 (52 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Acelyn. 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
677
~ 1 in 506,284 Americans
Peak year
2018
52 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,369
Tracked since 1999
Census
Acelyn in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 502 people with the first name Acelyn, which placed it at #20,542 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
#20,542
National first-name rank
People counted
502
502 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
58.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Acelyn
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Acelyn is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.1%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Acelyn 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 Acelyn at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White58.2% · 292
- Hispanic or Latino15.1% · 76
- Black or African American11.4% · 57
- Two or more races9.4% · 47
- American Indian and Alaska Native4.2% · 21
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 9
Gender
Gender distribution for Acelyn
Acelyn leans heavily female at 92.4% of total registrations, but 52 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Acelyn as a male name
- Ranked #12,329 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2019 (12 births)
Acelyn as a female name
- Ranked #4,369 in 2024
- 32 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (52 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Acelyn leans strongly female. 448 people counted with this name were female (90.3%), compared with 48 male bearers (9.7%).
Popularity
Acelyn: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Acelyn from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 364 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Acelyn remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Acelyn 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 Acelyn during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Acelyns live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, Tennessee recorded the most babies named Acelyn, while Oklahoma, Louisiana, Tennessee recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Acelyn
The name Acelyn is believed to have originated from the Old English language, which was spoken in parts of Britain from the 5th to the 11th century. It is derived from the Germanic root "ac," meaning "oak," and the suffix "-lyn," which was a common diminutive ending used to denote endearment or smallness.
While the exact origin of the name Acelyn is somewhat unclear, it is thought to have been a variant of the more common Old English name Acelia or Aecelia, which was derived from the same root and meant "little oak" or "oak tree." This connection to the oak tree likely symbolized strength, resilience, and longevity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Acelyn can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive survey of land and property commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1086. In this historical record, an individual named Acelyn is listed as a landowner in the county of Norfolk.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Acelyn was relatively uncommon but did appear in various historical documents and records. One notable bearer of the name was Acelyn of Poitiers, a 12th-century French noblewoman who was known for her patronage of the arts and her support of the Cistercian monastic order.
In the 14th century, there was a notable English poet and writer named Acelyn Gower, who was born around 1330 and is believed to have been a contemporary of Geoffrey Chaucer. While little is known about her life, some of her works, including a collection of love poems, have survived to this day.
During the Renaissance period, the name Acelyn was borne by Acelyn Woodville, who was born in 1437 and was a member of the English nobility. She is remembered for her involvement in the Wars of the Roses, where she supported the House of Lancaster against the House of York.
In the 18th century, Acelyn Montagu was a prominent British socialite and patron of the arts, known for her extensive collection of paintings and her support of artists and writers. She was born in 1720 and hosted influential salon gatherings in London, which were attended by many of the leading intellectuals and cultural figures of the time.
While the name Acelyn has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, its connection to the oak tree and its enduring presence in various historical records and contexts have contributed to its enduring appeal and significance.
People
Acelyn + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Acelyn 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
Acelyn: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Acelyn?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 677 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Acelyn 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 506,284 US residents.
Is Acelyn a common name?
We classify Acelyn as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 683 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Acelyn most popular?
The single biggest year for Acelyn was 2018, when 52 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Acelyn 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 Acelyn in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 502 people with the name Acelyn, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,542 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 Acelyn 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 Acelyn?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Acelyn leans strongly female. 448 people counted with this name were female (90.3%), compared with 48 male bearers (9.7%). 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 Acelyn?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Acelyn is White at 58.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (15.1%) and Black (11.4%). 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 Acelyn most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Acelyn in the 2020 Census, accounting for 58.2% (292 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 Acelyn in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Acelyn a female name?
Yes, 92.4% of people registered as Acelyn 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 Acelyn still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Acelyn 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 Acelyn 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 Acelyn?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.