Aiken
Of Scottish origin, referring to someone from Aiken, a place name.
Name Census estimates that about 333 living Americans carry the first name Aiken. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aiken today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aiken births was 2012 (26 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aiken. 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 Aiken with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
333
~ 1 in 1,029,292 Americans
Peak year
2012
26 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#10,944
Tracked since 1920
Census
Aiken in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 346 people with the first name Aiken, which placed it at #26,749 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
#26,749
National first-name rank
People counted
346
346 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
52.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aiken
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aiken is White at 52.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%). 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 Aiken 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 Aiken at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White52.3% · 181
- Hispanic or Latino19.9% · 69
- Asian and Pacific Islander15.9% · 55
- Black or African American5.8% · 20
- Two or more races4.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.0% · 7
Popularity
Aiken: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aiken from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 191 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aiken remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aiken 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 Aiken during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aikens live
Origin
Meaning and history of Aiken
The name Aiken has its origins in the Scottish Gaelic language and is derived from the word "achadh," which means "field" or "pasture." It is believed to have emerged as a surname during the Middle Ages in Scotland, and later became adopted as a given name.
The earliest recorded use of the name Aiken as a first name dates back to the 16th century in Scotland. One of the earliest known individuals with this name was Aiken Drummond, a Scottish nobleman who lived in the late 16th century and was a member of the influential Drummond family.
In the 17th century, the name Aiken gained popularity among Scottish Protestants, particularly those belonging to the Presbyterian Church. It was seen as a name that reflected the Scottish heritage and religious beliefs of the time.
One notable figure from this period was Aiken Tait, a Scottish minister and theologian who lived from 1628 to 1682. He was a prominent figure in the Church of Scotland and played a significant role in the religious debates of his time.
As the name spread beyond Scotland, it began to appear in various literary works and historical records. In the 19th century, the American writer Aiken Conrad Trent, born in 1824, gained recognition for his poetry and prose. His works often explored themes of nature and the human condition.
Another famous bearer of the name was Aiken Taylor, an American architect who lived from 1856 to 1919. He was known for his work on numerous notable buildings, including the Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
In the 20th century, the name Aiken gained further prominence with individuals like Aiken Candler, an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the Coca-Cola company in 1892. He played a crucial role in the early success and growth of the iconic brand.
While the name Aiken has Scottish roots, it has been embraced by various cultures and communities around the world, reflecting its enduring appeal and rich historical significance.
People
Aiken + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aiken 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
Aiken: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aiken?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 333 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aiken 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 1,029,292 US residents.
Is Aiken a common name?
We classify Aiken as "Very Rare". It ranks above 80.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 347 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aiken most popular?
The single biggest year for Aiken was 2012, when 26 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aiken is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aiken in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 346 people with the name Aiken, or 0.11 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #26,749 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 Aiken 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 Aiken?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aiken leans strongly male. 323 people counted with this name were male (93.9%), compared with 21 female bearers (6.1%). 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 Aiken?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aiken is White at 52.3%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (19.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (15.9%). 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 Aiken most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aiken in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.3% (181 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 Aiken in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aiken a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aiken 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 Aiken still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aiken 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 Aiken 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 Aiken?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.