Anais
A feminine French name derived from Anne, of Hebrew origin meaning "grace".
Name Census estimates that about 8,849 living Americans carry the first name Anais. It is a predominantly female name (98.8% of registrations). The average person named Anais today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anais births was 2021 (353 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anais. 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 Anais with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Although Anais is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 107 boys registered with the name since 1880.
People living today
8.8K
~ 1 in 38,734 Americans
Peak year
2021
353 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#854
Tracked since 1972
Census
Anais in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 7,877 people with the first name Anais, which placed it at #2,897 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
#2,897
National first-name rank
People counted
7.9K
7,877 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
2.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
68.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anais
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anais is Hispanic at 68.7%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and Black (8.6%). 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 Anais 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 Anais at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino68.7% · 5,409
- White16.2% · 1,278
- Black or African American8.6% · 674
- Two or more races4.4% · 350
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 143
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 23
Gender
Gender distribution for Anais
Anais leans heavily female at 98.8% of total registrations, but 107 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Anais as a male name
- Ranked #7,252 in 2024
- 11 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (16 births)
Anais as a female name
- Ranked #854 in 2024
- 315 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2021 (337 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anais leans strongly female. 7,778 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 97 male bearers (1.2%).
Popularity
Anais: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anais from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,364 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anais remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anais 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 Anais during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anais' live
The SSA's state-level files cover 32 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Anais, while Rhode Island, Oregon, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 227 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anais
The name Anais has its origins in ancient Greek, derived from the word "anaitos" meaning "pure" or "innocent." It gained popularity during the classical era in Greece, where it was given to female children as a symbolic representation of their purity and innocence.
In ancient Greek mythology, Anais was the name of one of the Oceanids, the three thousand daughters of the Titans Oceanus and Tethys. This association with the divine beings of the sea further added to the name's mystique and its connotations of purity and natural beauty.
During the Byzantine era, the name gained widespread use among Greek Christians, who often chose it for their daughters as a reflection of their religious values and the idea of spiritual purity. It was also adopted by other cultures influenced by Greek culture, such as the Romans, who adapted the name to their language as "Anaitis."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Anais can be found in the works of the ancient Greek poet Sappho, who lived on the island of Lesbos in the 6th century BC. In her poems, she mentions a woman named Anais, though little is known about her historical significance.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Anais. One of the most famous was Anais Nin, a French-American writer and essayist born in 1903 and known for her erotic writings and exploration of female sexuality. Her literary works, including her diaries, have become influential in the fields of feminism and gender studies.
Another prominent Anais was Anais de Villeray, a French noblewoman born in 1630 who played a significant role in the early settlement of New France (modern-day Canada). She is remembered for her contributions to the development of the colony and her philanthropic efforts.
In the 18th century, Anais Toudouze, a French painter and engraver, gained recognition for her intricate and detailed etchings and engravings. Her works captured the essence of the Rococo style and were highly prized by art collectors of the time.
Moving into the 20th century, Anais Conté, a French singer and actress born in 1932, achieved fame for her performances in musicals and films. She is particularly remembered for her portrayal of Cosette in the original French production of Les Misérables.
Lastly, Anais Mitchell, an American singer-songwriter born in 1981, has gained critical acclaim for her folk albums and her Broadway musical "Hadestown," which was inspired by the ancient Greek myth of Orpheus and Eurydice.
People
Anais + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anais 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
Anais: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anais?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 8,849 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anais 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 38,734 US residents.
Is Anais a common name?
We classify Anais as "Rare". It ranks above 97.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,018 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anais most popular?
The single biggest year for Anais was 2021, when 353 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anais is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anais in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 7,877 people with the name Anais, or 2.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,897 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 Anais 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 Anais?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anais leans strongly female. 7,778 people counted with this name were female (98.8%), compared with 97 male bearers (1.2%). 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 Anais?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anais is Hispanic at 68.7%. The next largest groups are White (16.2%) and Black (8.6%). 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 Anais most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Anais in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.7% (5,409 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 Anais in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anais a female name?
Yes, 98.8% of people registered as Anais 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 Anais still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anais 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 Anais 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 Anais?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.