Adelaine
A feminine given name of French origin meaning "noble type".
Name Census estimates that about 572 living Americans carry the first name Adelaine. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Adelaine today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Adelaine births was 2020 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Adelaine. 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 Adelaine with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
572
~ 1 in 599,221 Americans
Peak year
2020
40 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,746
Tracked since 1916
Census
Adelaine in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 498 people with the first name Adelaine, which placed it at #20,655 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
#20,655
National first-name rank
People counted
498
498 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
62.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Adelaine
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adelaine is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%). 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 Adelaine 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 Adelaine at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White62.2% · 310
- Hispanic or Latino17.5% · 87
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.4% · 42
- Two or more races7.4% · 37
- Black or African American4.0% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Adelaine: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Adelaine from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 266 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Adelaine remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Adelaine 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 Adelaine during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Adelaines live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, Texas, Florida recorded the most babies named Adelaine, while Florida, Texas, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Adelaine
The name Adelaine has its origins in the Germanic languages, derived from the roots "adal" meaning "noble" and "lind" meaning "gentle" or "serpent". It is a variant spelling of the name Adeline, which was popular during the Middle Ages.
The earliest recorded use of the name Adelaine dates back to the 9th century, when it was borne by a Frankish noblewoman named Adelaine of Tours. She was a prominent figure in the court of Charlemagne and played a significant role in the spread of Christianity in what is now modern-day France.
In the 11th century, another notable figure named Adelaine was Adelaine of Leuven, a countess of Brabant in the Low Countries. She was known for her piety and charitable works, and several churches and monasteries were founded under her patronage.
During the Renaissance period, the name Adelaine gained popularity among the aristocracy in various parts of Europe. One notable bearer of the name was Adelaine of Savoy, who lived in the 16th century and was the daughter of the Duke of Savoy. She was renowned for her beauty and intelligence, and her hand in marriage was sought after by many suitors.
In the 17th century, the name Adelaine was borne by Adelaine de La Tour d'Auvergne, a French noblewoman and author. She wrote several books on philosophy and theology, and her works were widely read and admired during her lifetime.
Another famous Adelaine was Adelaine Montalvan, a Spanish painter who lived in the 18th century. She was one of the few female artists of her time to gain recognition and critical acclaim, and her works are still celebrated today for their technical mastery and emotional depth.
While the name Adelaine has its roots in European history, it has been used across various cultures and languages over the centuries. Its meaning of "noble" and "gentle" has made it a popular choice for parents seeking a name that evokes strength and grace.
People
Adelaine + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Adelaine 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
Adelaine: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Adelaine?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 572 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Adelaine 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 599,221 US residents.
Is Adelaine a common name?
We classify Adelaine as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 625 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Adelaine most popular?
The single biggest year for Adelaine was 2020, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Adelaine 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 Adelaine in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 498 people with the name Adelaine, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,655 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 Adelaine 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 Adelaine?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Adelaine appears almost entirely female. Of the 506 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Adelaine?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Adelaine is White at 62.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (17.5%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.4%). 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 Adelaine most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Adelaine in the 2020 Census, accounting for 62.2% (310 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 Adelaine in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Adelaine a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Adelaine 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 Adelaine still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Adelaine 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 Adelaine 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 Adelaine?
See how many people share the name Adelaine on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.