Anselmo
A masculine name of Germanic origin meaning "consecrated to God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,898 living Americans carry the first name Anselmo. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Anselmo today is around 45 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anselmo births was 1990 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anselmo. 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
1.9K
~ 1 in 180,587 Americans
Peak year
1990
41 babies that year
Average age
45
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,057
Tracked since 1907
Census
Anselmo in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,706 people with the first name Anselmo, which placed it at #4,097 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
#4,097
National first-name rank
People counted
4.7K
4,706 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
88.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anselmo
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anselmo is Hispanic at 88.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Anselmo 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 Anselmo at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino88.4% · 4,160
- White4.9% · 230
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.6% · 218
- Black or African American1.4% · 65
- Two or more races0.4% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 13
Popularity
Anselmo: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anselmo from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 299 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anselmo 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 Anselmo during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anselmos live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, New Mexico recorded the most babies named Anselmo, while Arizona, New York, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 302 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anselmo
The name Anselmo originates from the Germanic languages, deriving from the Old Germanic name Anshelm, which itself comes from the elements "ans" meaning "god" and "helm" meaning "helmet" or "protection". This points to the name's origins in pagan Germanic cultures, where it likely held significance as a powerful name invoking divine protection.
The name Anselmo emerged in the Early Middle Ages, appearing in various forms across different Germanic languages and dialects. Similar spellings include Anselm, Anselmus, and Anshelm. Its use became more widespread after the 8th century as it was adopted in Christian cultures.
One of the earliest and most notable individuals with the name was Saint Anselm of Canterbury, an influential philosopher and theologian born in 1033 in Aosta, Italy. He is renowned for his ontological argument for the existence of God and his contributions to scholastic philosophy.
Another significant figure was Anselmo d'Aosta, an 11th-century Italian nobleman and military leader who played a crucial role in the First Crusade. He was instrumental in the capture of Antioch in 1098.
In the 13th century, Anselmo da Manarola was an Italian painter from the Republic of Genoa, known for his religious frescoes and altarpieces. His works can be found in various churches across northern Italy.
During the Renaissance, Anselmo Candido was a 15th-century Italian humanist scholar and philosopher from Parma. He was a prominent figure in the intellectual circles of his time and contributed to the revival of classical learning.
In the 17th century, Anselmo Banducci was an Italian composer and organist from Florence. He was a respected figure in the musical scene of his time and composed various sacred works for the church.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Anselmo throughout history, highlighting its enduring presence across different cultures and time periods.
People
Anselmo + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anselmo 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
Anselmo: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anselmo?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,898 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anselmo 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 180,587 US residents.
Is Anselmo a common name?
We classify Anselmo as "Rare". It ranks above 93.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,742 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anselmo most popular?
The single biggest year for Anselmo was 1990, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anselmo is about 45 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anselmo in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,706 people with the name Anselmo, or 1.56 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,097 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 Anselmo 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 Anselmo?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anselmo appears almost entirely male. Of the 4,705 people counted with this name, 99.7% were male and only a very small share were female. 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 Anselmo?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anselmo is Hispanic at 88.4%. The next largest groups are White (4.9%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.6%). 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 Anselmo most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Anselmo in the 2020 Census, accounting for 88.4% (4,160 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 Anselmo in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anselmo a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anselmo in the SSA data are male. 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 Anselmo still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anselmo 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 Anselmo 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 Anselmo as a first name?
If you just want to know how many people share the name Anselmo, HowManyOfMe.org gives you the headline number in one glance.