Ainsleigh
A feminine given name of Scottish origin meaning "one's meadow".
Name Census estimates that about 601 living Americans carry the first name Ainsleigh. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ainsleigh today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ainsleigh births was 2015 (39 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ainsleigh. 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 Ainsleigh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
601
~ 1 in 570,307 Americans
Peak year
2015
39 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,153
Tracked since 1998
Census
Ainsleigh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 493 people with the first name Ainsleigh, which placed it at #20,821 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
#20,821
National first-name rank
People counted
493
493 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
84.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ainsleigh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ainsleigh is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Ainsleigh 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 Ainsleigh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White84.4% · 416
- Hispanic or Latino5.5% · 27
- Two or more races4.9% · 24
- Black or African American2.8% · 14
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.6% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 4
Popularity
Ainsleigh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ainsleigh from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 297 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ainsleigh remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ainsleigh 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 Ainsleigh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ainsleighs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. Texas, Florida, Mississippi recorded the most babies named Ainsleigh, while Mississippi, Florida, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ainsleigh
The name Ainsleigh is a modern English variant of the Scottish surname Ainsley, which derived from the name of an ancient estate called Ainsley in the Scottish Borders region. The name Ainsley itself is believed to have originated from the Old English words "Æðeling" or "Æðelīng," meaning "prince" or "son of a nobleman."
The earliest known mention of the name Ainsley dates back to the 12th century, when it appeared in Scottish charters and records. However, the variant spelling Ainsleigh is a relatively recent development, emerging in the late 20th century as a more feminine form of the traditional masculine name.
While the name Ainsleigh does not have a direct association with any notable historical figures or ancient texts, a few individuals named Ainsley have left their mark throughout history. One prominent example is Ainsley Earhardt, an American journalist and television personality born in 1976, who currently co-hosts the popular Fox News program "Fox & Friends."
Another noteworthy individual was Ainsley Gommon (1936-2022), a British architect known for designing several iconic buildings in London, including the Lloyd's Building and the Broadgate development. Additionally, Ainsley Maitland-Neville (1924-2010) was a British army officer and author who served in World War II and later wrote several books on military history.
In the realm of sports, Ainsley Bracewell (1901-1970) was an English cricketer who played for Yorkshire County Cricket Club in the 1920s and 1930s, while Ainsley Ighodaro (born 1988) is a former Canadian football defensive lineman who played in the Canadian Football League.
Despite its Scottish origins, the name Ainsleigh has gained popularity in recent decades, particularly in English-speaking countries like the United States, Canada, and Australia, where it is often chosen for its unique and melodic sound, blending traditional and contemporary elements.
People
Ainsleigh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ainsleigh 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
Ainsleigh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ainsleigh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 601 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ainsleigh 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 570,307 US residents.
Is Ainsleigh a common name?
We classify Ainsleigh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 607 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ainsleigh most popular?
The single biggest year for Ainsleigh was 2015, when 39 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ainsleigh is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ainsleigh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 493 people with the name Ainsleigh, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,821 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 Ainsleigh 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 Ainsleigh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ainsleigh appears almost entirely female. Of the 489 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 Ainsleigh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ainsleigh is White at 84.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.5%) and Two or More Races (4.9%). 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 Ainsleigh most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ainsleigh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.4% (416 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 Ainsleigh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ainsleigh a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ainsleigh 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 Ainsleigh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ainsleigh 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 Ainsleigh 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 the name Ainsleigh?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.