Ainslee
English feminine name of Scottish origin meaning "one's own meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 1,518 living Americans carry the first name Ainslee. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ainslee today is around 15 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ainslee births was 2017 (89 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ainslee. 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.
Key insights
- • Ainslee is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 15 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.5K
~ 1 in 225,793 Americans
Peak year
2017
89 babies that year
Average age
15
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,689
Tracked since 1985
Census
Ainslee in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,240 people with the first name Ainslee, which placed it at #10,650 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
#10,650
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,240 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
88.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ainslee
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ainslee is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Ainslee 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 Ainslee at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White88.5% · 1,097
- Hispanic or Latino5.0% · 62
- Two or more races4.2% · 52
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.9% · 11
- Black or African American0.8% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 8
Popularity
Ainslee: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ainslee from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 740 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ainslee remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ainslee 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 Ainslee during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ainslees live
The SSA's state-level files cover 17 states and territories. Texas, Illinois, Indiana recorded the most babies named Ainslee, while Washington, Tennessee, Pennsylvania recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ainslee
The given name Ainslee is of Scottish origin, derived from the surname Ainsley, which is a habitational name referring to a location in Berwickshire, Scotland. The name is thought to have originated in the 12th or 13th century and is believed to be a combination of the Old English words "an" meaning "one" and "ley" meaning "meadow" or "clearing."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ainslee can be found in the historical records of Scotland, where it appears as a surname in the late 13th century. The name was primarily used as a surname until the 19th century, when it began to gain popularity as a given name, particularly for females.
In terms of historical references, the name Ainslee does not appear to have been prominently featured in ancient texts, religious scriptures, or major historical records. However, there have been several notable individuals throughout history who have borne this name.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Ainslee was Ainslee Douglas Drummond (1825-1914), a Scottish-born Canadian lawyer and politician who served as a member of the Canadian House of Commons in the late 19th century.
Another notable figure was Ainslee Hicklin (1919-2012), an American businessman and philanthropist who co-founded the National Bank of Commerce in Memphis, Tennessee.
In the literary world, Ainslee Embree (1921-2017) was an American author and editor who published several books on Indian philosophy and religion.
In the field of sports, Ainslee Lamb (born 1939) was a professional golfer from Canada who competed on the LPGA Tour in the 1960s and 1970s.
Lastly, Ainslee Hewett (born 1996) is a contemporary British wheelchair tennis player who has won numerous Grand Slam titles and has been ranked as the world's number one player in her discipline.
These are just a few examples of individuals throughout history who have carried the given name Ainslee, showcasing its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods.
People
Ainslee + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ainslee 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
Ainslee: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ainslee?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,518 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ainslee 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 225,793 US residents.
Is Ainslee a common name?
We classify Ainslee as "Rare". It ranks above 92.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,536 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ainslee most popular?
The single biggest year for Ainslee was 2017, when 89 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ainslee is about 15 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ainslee in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,240 people with the name Ainslee, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,650 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 Ainslee 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 Ainslee?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ainslee leans strongly female. 1,231 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 16 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Ainslee?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ainslee is White at 88.5%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.0%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Ainslee most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ainslee in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.5% (1,097 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 Ainslee in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ainslee a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ainslee 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 Ainslee still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ainslee 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 Ainslee 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 common is the name Ainslee?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Ainslee on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.