Ariadne
A Greek name associated with the mythological princess who aided Theseus.
Name Census estimates that about 4,643 living Americans carry the first name Ariadne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ariadne today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ariadne births was 2016 (389 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ariadne. 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 Ariadne with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Ariadne is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 14 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
4.6K
~ 1 in 73,822 Americans
Peak year
2016
389 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,258
Tracked since 1960
Census
Ariadne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,060 people with the first name Ariadne, which placed it at #5,557 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
#5,557
National first-name rank
People counted
3.1K
3,060 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
69.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ariadne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ariadne is Hispanic at 69.7%. The next largest groups are White (22.8%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Ariadne 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 Ariadne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino69.7% · 2,132
- White22.8% · 697
- Two or more races2.6% · 79
- Black or African American2.4% · 72
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.3% · 70
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 10
Popularity
Ariadne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ariadne from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 2,588 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ariadne remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ariadne 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 Ariadne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ariadnes live
The SSA's state-level files cover 28 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Ariadne, while Utah, South Carolina, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 115 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ariadne
Ariadne is a name with origins in ancient Greek mythology and culture. It is derived from the Greek words "ari" meaning "most" and "agne" meaning "pure" or "holy". The name was borne by the Cretan princess Ariadne in Greek mythology, who helped Theseus slay the Minotaur and escape from the Labyrinth by giving him a ball of thread to unwind behind him.
The earliest known use of the name Ariadne dates back to around the 8th century BC, when the ancient Greek poet Homer mentioned her in his epic poems the Iliad and the Odyssey. The name also appears in other ancient Greek literature, such as the plays of Euripides and the works of the Roman poet Ovid.
One of the earliest recorded individuals named Ariadne was a Greek woman from the 5th century BC, who was the daughter of the Athenian general and statesman Pericles. Another notable Ariadne from antiquity was a Byzantine Empress of the 6th century AD, who was the wife of the Emperor Anastasius I.
During the Renaissance period, the name Ariadne became popular among artists and intellectuals who were inspired by classical Greek and Roman culture. One famous bearer of the name was the Italian Renaissance painter Ariadne Colonna (1507-1572), who was a member of the noble Colonna family and known for her portraits and religious paintings.
In the 19th century, the name Ariadne was used by several literary figures, including the English poet and novelist Ariadne Cogan (1808-1872), who wrote under the pen name "Ariadne". Another notable bearer of the name was the German writer Ariadne von Schölerr (1839-1914), who wrote novels and short stories inspired by Greek mythology.
Throughout history, the name Ariadne has been associated with themes of guidance, wisdom, and storytelling, reflecting its mythological origins and the influence of ancient Greek culture on various artistic and intellectual movements.
People
Ariadne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ariadne 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
Ariadne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ariadne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 4,643 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ariadne 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 73,822 US residents.
Is Ariadne a common name?
We classify Ariadne as "Rare". It ranks above 96.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,708 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ariadne most popular?
The single biggest year for Ariadne was 2016, when 389 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ariadne 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 Ariadne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,060 people with the name Ariadne, or 1.01 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,557 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 Ariadne 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 Ariadne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ariadne appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,062 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Ariadne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ariadne is Hispanic at 69.7%. The next largest groups are White (22.8%) and Two or More Races (2.6%). 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 Ariadne most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Ariadne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.7% (2,132 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 Ariadne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ariadne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ariadne 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 Ariadne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ariadne 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 Ariadne 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 share the name Ariadne?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.