Aili
A feminine name of Scandinavian/Finnish origin meaning "always bright and shining".
Name Census estimates that about 942 living Americans carry the first name Aili. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aili today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aili births was 2009 (45 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aili. 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
942
~ 1 in 363,858 Americans
Peak year
2009
45 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,688
Tracked since 1901
Census
Aili in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,145 people with the first name Aili, which placed it at #11,291 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
#11,291
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,145 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
55.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aili
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aili is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.5%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Aili 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 Aili at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White55.7% · 638
- Asian and Pacific Islander25.5% · 292
- Hispanic or Latino9.6% · 110
- Two or more races7.3% · 84
- Black or African American1.3% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 6
Popularity
Aili: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aili from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 343 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aili remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aili 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 Aili during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ailis live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Michigan, Minnesota, California recorded the most babies named Aili, while New York, Massachusetts, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aili
The name Aili is a Scandinavian given name with roots tracing back to the Old Norse language. It is believed to have originated as a diminutive form of names like Aila or Aile, which were derived from the Old Norse word "ál," meaning "awl" or a small pointed tool used for piercing holes.
In ancient Norse mythology, the word "ál" was associated with concepts of sharpness, strength, and protection. The name Aili may have been given to children as a way of wishing them a life of resilience and fortitude.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Aili can be found in medieval Scandinavian records and genealogies, particularly from the regions of present-day Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. One notable historical figure named Aili was Aili Eriksdotter, a Swedish noblewoman who lived in the 13th century and was known for her influential role in the governance of the region of Västergötland.
Another prominent individual with the name Aili was Aili Idström, a Swedish writer and feminist activist born in 1865. She was a pioneering figure in the women's rights movement and advocated for women's suffrage and equal rights in Sweden.
In the field of music, Aili Sommerstad was a renowned Norwegian soprano and opera singer who graced the stages of Europe in the early 20th century. Born in 1892, she was particularly celebrated for her performances in the operas of Richard Wagner.
Moving into the realm of sports, Aili Kristiina Saari was a Finnish cross-country skier who competed in the 1972 and 1976 Winter Olympics, earning a silver medal in the 4x5 km relay event in 1976.
Lastly, Aili Jørgensen was a Danish artist and painter born in 1923. She was known for her vibrant abstract expressionist works and her contributions to the Danish modernist art movement.
While the name Aili has roots in ancient Norse culture, it has transcended its origins and found popularity across various Scandinavian countries and beyond, with individuals from diverse backgrounds and walks of life carrying this name throughout history.
People
Aili + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aili 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
Aili: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aili?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 942 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aili 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 363,858 US residents.
Is Aili a common name?
We classify Aili as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,341 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aili most popular?
The single biggest year for Aili was 2009, when 45 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aili is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aili in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,145 people with the name Aili, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,291 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 Aili 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 Aili?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aili leans strongly female. 1,126 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 17 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Aili?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aili is White at 55.7%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (25.5%) and Hispanic (9.6%). 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 Aili most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aili in the 2020 Census, accounting for 55.7% (638 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 Aili in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aili a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aili 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 Aili still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aili 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 Aili 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 named Aili?
Find out how many people share the name Aili on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.