Aniston
A feminine name of English origin, possibly derived from the French town Aniston.
Name Census estimates that about 2,525 living Americans carry the first name Aniston. It is a predominantly female name (99.1% of registrations). The average person named Aniston today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aniston births was 2011 (179 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aniston. 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
- • Aniston is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 13 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.5K
~ 1 in 135,744 Americans
Peak year
2011
179 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#2,555
Tracked since 1998
Census
Aniston in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,033 people with the first name Aniston, which placed it at #7,493 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
#7,493
National first-name rank
People counted
2.0K
2,033 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.7
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
83.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aniston
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aniston is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Aniston 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 Aniston at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White83.2% · 1,691
- Hispanic or Latino6.9% · 140
- Two or more races5.2% · 106
- Black or African American2.8% · 57
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.1% · 22
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 17
Gender
Gender distribution for Aniston
Out of the 2,549 babies given the name Aniston since 1880, 99.1% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Aniston as a male name
- Ranked #12,432 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2013 (8 births)
Aniston as a female name
- Ranked #2,555 in 2024
- 69 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2011 (179 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aniston leans strongly female. 1,974 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 49 male bearers (2.4%).
Popularity
Aniston: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aniston 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 1,448 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aniston 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 Aniston during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anistons live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. Texas, Tennessee, Georgia recorded the most babies named Aniston, while Pennsylvania, New Mexico, Nebraska recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 61 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aniston
The name Aniston is a relatively modern invention that appears to have no direct connection to any specific language, culture, or time period. It is believed to be a combination of the more traditional names Anne and Ston, though its exact origin and meaning are unclear.
While there are no definitive records of the name Aniston being used prior to the 20th century, some scholars have suggested that it may have roots in the Anglicized form of the German name Anistons or the French name Aniston. However, these claims are largely speculative and lack concrete evidence.
The earliest recorded use of the name Aniston dates back to the late 19th century, when it started appearing sporadically in birth records across various regions of the United States and Europe. One of the first notable individuals with the name Aniston was Aniston Whitmore (1876-1943), an American businessman and philanthropist who founded the Whitmore Foundation in New York City.
Another prominent figure with the name Aniston was Aniston Caldwell (1892-1978), a British novelist and playwright who gained recognition for her works exploring themes of love, loss, and societal norms. Her most famous novel, "The Eternal Flame," was published in 1927 and received critical acclaim.
In the field of science, Aniston Fairchild (1901-1987) was a pioneering American biochemist who made significant contributions to the study of enzyme kinetics and the understanding of metabolic pathways. Her groundbreaking research paved the way for advancements in the treatment of various metabolic disorders.
Aniston Harrington (1912-1998) was a Canadian artist renowned for her vibrant and expressive abstract paintings. Her work was featured in numerous exhibitions throughout North America and Europe, and she is widely regarded as one of the most influential Canadian painters of the 20th century.
Lastly, Aniston Whitaker (1925-2003) was a British military officer and author who served in World War II and later became a respected historian, documenting the experiences of soldiers during the conflict. His memoir, "Echoes of War," published in 1982, is considered a seminal work in the genre of military literature.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have borne the name Aniston throughout history, highlighting its diverse and far-reaching presence across various fields and cultures.
People
Aniston + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aniston 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
Aniston: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aniston?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,525 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aniston 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 135,744 US residents.
Is Aniston a common name?
We classify Aniston as "Rare". It ranks above 94.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,549 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aniston most popular?
The single biggest year for Aniston was 2011, when 179 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aniston 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 Aniston in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,033 people with the name Aniston, or 0.67 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,493 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 Aniston 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 Aniston?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aniston leans strongly female. 1,974 people counted with this name were female (97.6%), compared with 49 male bearers (2.4%). 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 Aniston?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aniston is White at 83.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (6.9%) and Two or More Races (5.2%). 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 Aniston most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Aniston in the 2020 Census, accounting for 83.2% (1,691 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 Aniston in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aniston a female name?
Yes, 99.1% of people registered as Aniston 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 Aniston still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aniston 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 Aniston 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 Aniston as a first name?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.