Aracely
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "altar of the sky".
Name Census estimates that about 9,459 living Americans carry the first name Aracely. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aracely today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aracely births was 2003 (482 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aracely. 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
9.5K
~ 1 in 36,236 Americans
Peak year
2003
482 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
1993 SSA rank
#1,315
Tracked since 1956
Census
Aracely in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 15,011 people with the first name Aracely, which placed it at #1,897 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
#1,897
National first-name rank
People counted
15K
15,011 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
5.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.1% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aracely
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracely is Hispanic at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Aracely 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 Aracely at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.1% · 14,732
- White1.3% · 197
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 31
- Black or African American0.2% · 26
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 13
- Two or more races0.1% · 12
Gender
Gender distribution for Aracely
Out of the 9,765 babies given the name Aracely since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Aracely as a male name
- Ranked #7,694 in 1993
- 6 male births in 1993
- Peak: 1993 (6 births)
Aracely as a female name
- Ranked #1,315 in 2024
- 174 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (482 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aracely appears almost entirely female. Of the 15,016 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Aracely: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aracely from the 1950s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 3,598 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aracely 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 Aracely during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aracelys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Aracely, while Pennsylvania, Nebraska, Missouri recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 258 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aracely
The name Aracely originates from the Latin name Aracelitana, which likely comes from the Roman town of Aracelitana located in ancient Hispania (the Iberian Peninsula). This town's name is thought to derive from the Iberian language words "ara" meaning "flat" and "celi" meaning "mountain," referring to its geographical location on a flat mountain area.
Aracelitana evolved into the Spanish name Araceli over time through linguistic changes. The name Araceli has been used in Spanish-speaking regions for centuries, particularly in Spain and parts of Latin America influenced by Spanish colonization. It was initially more common among Catholics, as the name Araceli refers to the Virgin Mary's Spanish title "Nuestra Señora de Araceli" (Our Lady of Araceli).
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Araceli dates back to the 13th century, when it was mentioned in a Spanish religious text referring to the Virgin Mary. In the 16th century, a Spanish noblewoman named Araceli de Mendoza was born in 1520 and became known for her poetry.
Another notable historical figure with this name was Araceli García del Saz (1889-1964), a Spanish feminist and educator who fought for women's rights and educational reforms in the early 20th century. She founded several schools and organizations promoting women's education and suffrage in Spain.
In the 17th century, Araceli Longás (1627-1708) was a Spanish nun and mystic who founded the Franciscan convent of Araceli in Madrid. She is recognized as a venerable by the Catholic Church.
The name Aracely also has historical roots in Latin America. One example is Aracely Aramburo (1833-1853), a Cuban poet and revolutionary who actively participated in the struggle for Cuban independence from Spanish colonial rule.
While originally more common in Spanish-speaking regions, the name Aracely has spread to other parts of the world due to immigration and cultural exchange. It has seen some usage in other languages, though it retains its Spanish origins and connections to the Virgin Mary and notable historical figures from Spain and Latin America.
People
Aracely + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aracely 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
Aracely: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aracely?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 9,459 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aracely 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 36,236 US residents.
Is Aracely a common name?
We classify Aracely as "Rare". It ranks above 97.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 9,765 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aracely most popular?
The single biggest year for Aracely was 2003, when 482 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aracely is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aracely in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 15,011 people with the name Aracely, or 4.97 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #1,897 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 Aracely 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 Aracely?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aracely appears almost entirely female. Of the 15,016 people counted with this name, 99.8% 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 Aracely?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aracely is Hispanic at 98.1%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Aracely most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Aracely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.1% (14,732 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 Aracely in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aracely a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Aracely 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 Aracely still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aracely 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 Aracely 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 are named Aracely?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many Americans are named Aracely at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.