Adaline
A feminine name of uncertain origin meaning "noble" or "nobility".
Name Census estimates that about 15,272 living Americans carry the first name Adaline. It sits at #194 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adaline today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adaline births was 2016 (1,880 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adaline. 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 Adaline with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Adaline is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
15K
~ 1 in 22,443 Americans
Peak year
2016
1,880 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#194
Tracked since 1880
Census
Adaline in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 8,172 people with the first name Adaline, which placed it at #2,831 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
#2,831
National first-name rank
People counted
8.2K
8,172 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
72.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adaline
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adaline is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Adaline 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 Adaline at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White72.2% · 5,900
- Hispanic or Latino17.8% · 1,453
- Two or more races5.4% · 444
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 211
- Black or African American1.2% · 102
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 62
Popularity
Adaline: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adaline from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 7,717 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adaline 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 Adaline during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adalines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 49 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Adaline, while Vermont, Rhode Island, Wyoming recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 292 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adaline
The name Adaline has its roots in the ancient Germanic languages, with its origins dating back to the 5th century. It is derived from the Germanic elements "adal," meaning noble, and "lind," meaning soft or tender. Thus, the name Adaline can be interpreted as "noble and gentle" or "tenderly noble."
The name was first recorded in various forms such as Adalheidis, Adalinda, and Adalinda in medieval German and French records. It gained popularity during the Middle Ages and was particularly common among the aristocracy and noble families of Europe.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Adaline can be found in the 9th century, when a noblewoman named Adaline of Saxony was mentioned in the annals of the Carolingian dynasty. Another notable Adaline was Adaline of Alsace, a 12th-century duchess who played a significant role in the politics of the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 14th century, an Italian saint named Adaline of Piacenza was venerated for her piety and charitable works. Her legacy contributed to the name's association with virtue and kindness.
During the Renaissance, the name Adaline was favored among the upper classes of Europe. One of the most famous bearers of the name was Adaline of Bavaria, a 16th-century princess and patron of the arts, known for her support of poets and artists.
In the 18th century, Adaline Motte, a French noblewoman, gained notoriety for her role in the French Revolution. She was a fierce advocate for women's rights and a close confidante of influential figures like Maximilien Robespierre.
Another notable Adaline was Adaline Gurney, an American abolitionist and women's rights activist who lived in the 19th century. She was a prominent figure in the anti-slavery movement and worked alongside renowned leaders like William Lloyd Garrison and Frederick Douglass.
While the name Adaline fell out of favor in the 20th century, it has experienced a resurgence in recent years, possibly due to its unique blend of vintage charm and modern appeal.
People
Adaline + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adaline 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
Adaline: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adaline?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 15,272 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adaline 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 22,443 US residents.
Is Adaline a common name?
We classify Adaline as "Uncommon". It ranks above 98.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 17,309 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adaline most popular?
The single biggest year for Adaline was 2016, when 1,880 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adaline is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Adaline in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 8,172 people with the name Adaline, or 2.71 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,831 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 Adaline 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 Adaline?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adaline appears almost entirely female. Of the 8,168 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Adaline?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adaline is White at 72.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.8%) and Two or More Races (5.4%). 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 Adaline most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Adaline in the 2020 Census, accounting for 72.2% (5,900 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 Adaline in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adaline a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adaline 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 Adaline still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adaline 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 Adaline 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 have Adaline as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.