Auther
A variant spelling of the Anglo-Saxon name Author, meaning "prosperous battle leader".
Name Census estimates that about 685 living Americans carry the first name Auther. It is a predominantly male name (99.3% of registrations). The average person named Auther today is around 75 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Auther births was 1925 (71 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Auther. 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
- • The typical person named Auther is about 75 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Authers were born before 1961.
People living today
685
~ 1 in 500,371 Americans
Peak year
1925
71 babies that year
Average age
75
years old
1989 SSA rank
#3,403
Tracked since 1880
Census
Auther in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 510 people with the first name Auther, which placed it at #20,297 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
#20,297
National first-name rank
People counted
510
510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Auther
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Auther is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (41.0%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Auther 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 Auther at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.7% · 233
- Black or African American41.0% · 209
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 38
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 13
- Two or more races2.2% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.2% · 6
Gender
Gender distribution for Auther
Out of the 2,366 babies given the name Auther since 1880, 99.3% were registered as male. The name sits firmly on the male side of the spectrum, with only a handful of female registrations across the entire dataset.
Auther as a male name
- Ranked #8,002 in 1989
- 5 male births in 1989
- Peak: 1926 (68 births)
Auther as a female name
- Ranked #3,403 in 1936
- 7 female births in 1936
- Peak: 1936 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Auther leans strongly male. 497 people counted with this name were male (96.9%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.1%).
Popularity
Auther: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Auther from the 1880s through to the 1980s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 565 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Auther 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 Auther during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Authers live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. Alabama, Georgia, Texas recorded the most babies named Auther, while Florida, Virginia, Kentucky recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 72 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Auther
The name Auther is believed to have originated from the Old English language, derived from the word "authre," which means "author" or "writer." This name has its roots in the Anglo-Saxon culture and can be traced back to the early medieval period, around the 5th to 11th centuries.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Auther can be found in the Domesday Book, a comprehensive record of land ownership in England compiled in 1086 by order of King William the Conqueror. The name appears in various spellings, such as "Auther," "Authre," and "Awther," suggesting its widespread use during that time.
In the 12th century, the name Auther gained prominence with the legendary figure of Auther, a renowned Welsh monk and scholar. He is credited with writing several influential works on theology and philosophy, cementing the name's association with literary and scholarly pursuits.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Auther was particularly popular among the clergy and scholars, reflecting its connection to the world of literature and academia. One notable bearer of this name was Auther of Ripon, a 7th-century English monk and hagiographer who wrote the influential "Life of St. Cuthbert."
During the Renaissance period, the name Auther saw a resurgence in popularity. One of the most famous individuals with this name was Auther Golding (c. 1536-1605), an English translator known for his influential translation of Ovid's "Metamorphoses" into English verse.
Another notable figure was Auther Dee (1499-1608), an English mathematician, astronomer, and occultist who served as an advisor to Queen Elizabeth I. His extensive writings and contributions to various fields of study further solidified the name's association with intellectualism and learning.
In the 17th century, the name Auther was borne by Auther Gethin (1634-1711), a Welsh clergyman and author who wrote extensively on religious topics. His works played a significant role in shaping the theological discourse of his time.
Moving into the 18th century, Auther Young (1683-1765), an English poet and playwright, gained recognition for his satirical works and tragedies, including "The Revenge" and "The Brothers."
While the name Auther has become less common in modern times, its historical significance and association with literature, scholarship, and intellectual pursuits remain ingrained in its etymology and cultural legacy.
People
Auther + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Auther 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
Auther: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Auther?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 685 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Auther 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 500,371 US residents.
Is Auther a common name?
We classify Auther as "Very Rare". It ranks above 87.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,366 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Auther most popular?
The single biggest year for Auther was 1925, when 71 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Auther is about 75 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Auther in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 510 people with the name Auther, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,297 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 Auther 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 Auther?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Auther leans strongly male. 497 people counted with this name were male (96.9%), compared with 16 female bearers (3.1%). 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 Auther?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Auther is White at 45.7%. The next largest groups are Black (41.0%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Auther most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Auther in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.7% (233 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 Auther in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Auther a male name?
Yes, 99.3% of people registered as Auther 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 Auther still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Auther 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 Auther 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 Auther?
Find out how many people share the name Auther on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.