Name Awesome

Anakin

#648 in 2025Boys' name

Meaning uncertain in the cited reference

Anakin has been given to 5,892 babies in the U.S. since 1995. In 2025 it ranked #648 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2023, with 541 recorded.

Babies named Anakin, 2025

1 in 7,760

Anakin over time, 1880–2025

BoysGirls
020040060018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Anakin: meaning, origin, and history

Meaning uncertain in the cited reference

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Anakin means

Anakin is a modern given name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Coined by American filmmaker George Lucas as early as 1974 in early drafts of Star Wars, which included a character named Annikin Starkiller. First appeared in 1977 in the novel Star Wars: From the Adventures of Luke Skywalker.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Anakin (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Anakin is used in English.

Anakin is a modern formation.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Anakin is pronounced /ˈænəkɪn/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 5,842 boys were recorded with the name Anakin between 1995 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 541 in 2023; its best national rank was #544 in 2023.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #702 in 2020 to #648 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank rose, from #909 in 2015 to #648 in 2025.

In the United States, 50 girls were recorded with the name Anakin between 2016 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 10 in 2018; its best national rank was #9,864 in 2018.

Over 5 years its rank rose, from #13,574 in 2020 to #13,323 in 2025.

How common is Anakin?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 7,760
427 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 4,000
0.03% of boys
Rank, 2025
#648
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
5,383 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Anakin sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 1001%
School of 5006%

Put another way: gather 5,383 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Anakin. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Anakins were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Anakin was born before 2019 — so the typical Anakin is around 6 today.

Median birth year
2019
About 6 years old
Biggest decade
2020s
46.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
95.5%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
5,842
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2020s — 46.4% of all recorded uses (2,709).

Is Anakin rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
−58
Places dropped
Rank vs 5 years ago
+54
Places climbed
Rank vs 10 years ago
+261
Places climbed
Births vs 10 years ago
1.80×
More babies than then
Share of its own peak
78.9%
Peak was 2023 (541)
Years since peak
2
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
19.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#544
2023

Spellings of Anakin

Anakin is the most-used spelling, taking 39.1% of the 14,943 babies given a near-identical spelling.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Anakin is used

Across 2016–2025, Anakin was most concentrated in Nevada — about 1 in 1,923 boys, against 1 in 4,419 across all states with data. It was least common in Maryland (1 in 50,000).

252 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1Nevada1 in 1,923
  2. 2Kentucky1 in 2,222
  3. 3Oklahoma1 in 2,632
  4. 4Tennessee1 in 2,778
  5. 5Arizona1 in 2,857
  6. 6California1 in 3,030
  7. 7Indiana1 in 3,030
  8. 8Texas1 in 3,448

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Geographically, Anakin is somewhat regional — more concentrated than 53% of the names used widely enough to compare. See the most regional names

Anakin around the world

Where Anakin ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    2000–2025
    #1,897
    in 2025
  • France
    2000–2025
    #3,120
    in 2025
  • Canada
    1999–2024
    #1,181
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2001–2011
    #784
    in 2011

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence. CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0.

Anakin by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#648
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 54
Best rank ever
#544
2023
Peak year
2023
541 that year
First recorded
1995
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
5,842
Count in 2025
427

As a girl's name

Rank in 2025
#13,323
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Up 251
Best rank ever
#9,864
2018
Peak year
2018
10 that year
First recorded
2016
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
50
Count in 2025
6

Names similar to Anakin

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

AnandLarkinAnasLinkinAnaniasAnayAnastacioAnanthAnantBreckinAnatoleAnakynAnaisAnavAnariAnastasiosElkinErskinAnandaAnaelArkinRankinHawkinAkin

Names with a curve like Anakin

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Anakin, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

MusaAzariahZaydAriesEmirDakariCreedElielJakariLuccaBenicioZamir

Sibling names for Anakin

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Anakin

Top names of 2023, Anakin's peak yearThe 2020s in fullOther names that peaked in 2023Boys' names starting with AMovie & TV Names