Ace
- Pronunciation
- [Ace]
- Gender
- Male
- Meaning
- Unity
- Origin
- Anglo
About the Name Ace
Ace descends from the Old French as via Latin as meaning "unit" or "one" — the smallest unit of Roman currency. The name has multiple modern resonances: the playing-card register (Ace as the highest or lowest card in most card games), the aviation register (the term "flying ace" for fighter pilots with multiple kills, originating in WWI), and the colloquial American English meaning of "expert" or "top-tier performer."
The name as a personal name has no significant pre-20th-century history; the name appears in SSA records starting in the 1980s and accelerates dramatically through the 2010s and 2020s. The single most influential modern fictional bearer is probably Ace Ventura: Pet Detective (the 1994 Jim Carrey film and its sequel) — though the comedy character is more associated with the Carrey performance than the name itself becoming popularly adopted.
Ace's American climb is one of the more striking 21st-century boys'-naming events: the name climbed from outside the US top 1000 in 2000 to the US top 200 boys' rank by 2018 and the top 100 by 2022. The name's appeal sits in three contemporary American naming preferences: the in-built top-performer register, the compact one-syllable hard-consonant structure, and the modern American masculine sound. The name reads as decisively masculine, action-oriented, and confidence-coded — qualities valued in current American naming. Common nicknames are scarce since the name is already short — Ace itself rarely shortens — and the related Acer (a longer alternate form) is rarely used. International forms are minimal since the name's first-name use is essentially modern American; the Latin as remains the etymological root.
Source: U.S. Social Security Administration name data, 1880–2024 (methodology). By Marvin Tang.
Quick Facts About Ace
US Popularity History (2006–2025)
Annual US births named Ace by gender, from US Social Security Administration records. Peak year: 2022 with 2,491 boys named Ace (boy rank #152 that year).
Where it stands today: in 2025, ranked #164 for boys (2,239 US births). That's 12 places below its 2022 peak.
Source: US Social Security Administration. Limitations: US birth-certificate data only; names appearing fewer than 5 times in a given year are suppressed for privacy; spelling variants are counted separately. For names that ranked outside the US top 100 before year 2000, only the years they reached the top 100 are shown — the chart may have gaps for less-popular historical names.
Paste the snippet below on any HTML page. Includes a credit link back to 9BabyNames — please keep it intact.
Where in the US Is Ace Most Popular?
Average boy-name rank within each state across 2016–2025 SSA records. A lower number means the name appears closer to the top of that state's boys-name rankings — a per-capita measure that isn't biased toward large states. For Ace the strongest states are Hawaii, Mississippi, Georgia.
Strongest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hawaii | #95 | 103 |
| 2 | Mississippi | #124 | 255 |
| 3 | Georgia | #128 | 968 |
| 4 | Louisiana | #128 | 429 |
| 5 | Nevada | #135 | 246 |
| 6 | District of Columbia | #150 | 63 |
| 7 | Alaska | #155 | 23 |
| 8 | Alabama | #166 | 390 |
| 9 | Arkansas | #167 | 214 |
| 10 | Delaware | #170 | 27 |
Weakest boys-name states
| # | State | Avg rank | Births |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minnesota | #385 | 164 |
| 2 | Washington | #336 | 220 |
| 3 | Massachusetts | #302 | 184 |
| 4 | Colorado | #302 | 204 |
| 5 | New Jersey | #300 | 337 |
| 6 | New York | #286 | 637 |
| 7 | Virginia | #281 | 321 |
| 8 | Nebraska | #281 | 74 |
| 9 | Oregon | #277 | 144 |
| 10 | Wisconsin | #267 | 203 |
Source: SSA state-level baby-name dataset 2016–2025. States with fewer than 3 years of data for Ace in this window are excluded. Births < 5 in a given state-year are suppressed by SSA for privacy.
Variant Forms
| Name | Meaning | Gender | Origin |
|---|---|---|---|
| Acey | Unity | Male | Anglo |
Famous People Named Ace
1 notable figure from history and culture who share the name Ace.
- Ace Frehley — Guitarist (1951)
Looking for names like Ace?
A dedicated page with 60+ related names — spelling variants, rhymes, alliterations, same-origin matches, and shared meaning concepts — lives at its own URL so each kind of similarity gets a deeper treatment than fits here.
Compare Ace to Other Popular Names
Side-by-side popularity charts and crossover years for Ace against today's most popular boys-name peers (top 8 by US births in the last 10 years of SSA records).
Ace Baby Name Ideas
- Should You Use a Baby Name a Close Friend Has Already Chosen? A Real-Life Overlap Test
- Should Sibling Names Be Similar in Popularity? Building a Set Without Ranking the Children
- Amelia or Emilia? How to Hear the Different Openings, Initials, and Full-Name Rhythm
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With C: Test Hard and Soft Openings Before You Commit
- Best Middle Names for Layla: Shape the L Rhythm, Open Ending, and Full-Name Flow
- Maya or Mia? How to Choose Between Two Short Names That Sound Closer Than They Look
- Should First and Middle Names Come From the Same Language or Origin? Mixing With a Clear Family Story
- When a Nickname Starts With a Different Letter From the Legal Name: Plan for Initials, Forms, and Daily Use
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With L: Keep the Repeated L Clear Without Losing Flow
- Best Middle Names for Ella: Build Space After the Double L and Open-A Ending
- Ivy or Iris? How to Choose Between Two Short Botanical Names
- Can You Use a Different-Gender Name as an Honor Name? Building a Recognizable Family Connection
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With T: Keep the T Seam Clear Without Overcorrecting
- Do You Need a One-Syllable Middle Name? When a Short Anchor Helps—and When It Flattens the Full Name
- What Is Teddy Short For? From Theodore and Edward to Standalone Teddy
- What Is Evie Short For? From Eve and Evelyn to Evangeline
- Baby Names for Last Names Starting With R: Manage the Repeated R Without Flattening the Surname
- Should Sibling Names Be Similar in Length? Pairing a Short Name With a Long One
- Should First and Middle Names Start With the Same Letter? Testing Alliteration Beyond the Monogram
- Best Middle Names for Lucy: Balance the Long-E Ending, Initials, and Surname