Aisling
Say it: ASH-ling
GirlIrishMeans dream, vision7 letters2 syllables
#180
in Ireland (2025)
#183 with spellings combined
26
babies in 2025
#8
best rank (1991)
12,340
babies since 1964
Down 102
10-year rank change
Aisling through the years
Compare with another name →Show the numbers
| Year | Babies (girls) | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 26 | #183 |
| 2024 | 30 | #155 |
| 2023 | 30 | #162 |
| 2022 | 42 | #126 |
| 2021 | 37 | #136 |
| 2020 | 36 | #138 |
| 2019 | 61 | #95 |
| 2018 | 62 | #98 |
| 2017 | 67 | #86 |
| 2016 | 84 | #77 |
| 2015 | 80 | #81 |
| 2014 | 124 | #55 |
| 2013 | 132 | #51 |
| 2012 | 165 | #42 |
| 2011 | 183 | #41 |
| 2010 | 186 | #41 |
| 2009 | 170 | #45 |
| 2008 | 190 | #41 |
| 2007 | 209 | #36 |
| 2006 | 224 | #28 |
| 2005 | 204 | #31 |
| 2004 | 217 | #29 |
| 2003 | 203 | #29 |
| 2002 | 210 | #27 |
| 2001 | 248 | #23 |
| 2000 | 213 | #25 |
| 1999 | 209 | #25 |
| 1998 | 212 | #21 |
| 1997 | 306 | #18 |
| 1996 | 336 | #17 |
| 1995 | 342 | #15 |
| 1994 | 348 | #13 |
| 1993 | 386 | #11 |
| 1992 | 432 | #10 |
| 1991 | 451 | #8 |
| 1990 | 471 | #9 |
| 1989 | 375 | #13 |
| 1988 | 340 | #16 |
| 1987 | 371 | #14 |
| 1986 | 337 | #18 |
| 1985 | 347 | #18 |
| 1984 | 311 | #19 |
| 1983 | 256 | #31 |
| 1982 | 281 | #31 |
| 1981 | 285 | #32 |
| 1980 | 258 | #40 |
| 1979 | 270 | #37 |
| 1978 | 222 | #44 |
| 1977 | 197 | #47 |
| 1976 | 182 | #49 |
| 1975 | 209 | #43 |
| 1974 | 171 | #52 |
| 1973 | 202 | #44 |
| 1972 | 180 | #48 |
| 1971 | 153 | #58 |
| 1970 | 117 | #71 |
| 1969 | 79 | #94 |
| 1968 | 78 | #87 |
| 1967 | 58 | #107 |
| 1966 | 63 | #100 |
| 1965 | 48 | #121 |
| 1964 | 24 | #154 |
Source: CSO, Irish Babies' Names (VSA50, VSA60), CC BY 4.0.
★ What does Aisling mean?
Dream, vision
Irish, from the word aisling (dream, vision), from Old Irish aislinge.
Say it right
ASHling
In some Irish dialects the ending is softer, closer to ASH-lin.
Not:AYS-lingAZ-ling
The story of Aisling
Aisling is the Irish word for a dream or vision, from the Old Irish aislinge. In Irish poetry of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries it also named a kind of poem, the vision poem, in which Ireland appears to the poet as a woman.
As a first name it is fairly new. Sources differ on exactly when it was taken up: one says the nineteenth century, while another finds no clear evidence before the twentieth. Patrick Woulfe’s 1923 book of Irish names notes it as in use in Derry and in Omeath, County Louth.
Aisling was already being given in 1964 and climbed fast through the 1970s and 1980s. It had the most babies in 1990, with 471 girls. Its best rank came a year later, at number 8 in 1991. The CSO counts Aislinn, Ashling and other spellings separately. In Northern Ireland its best place was number 60 in 1998.
Say it differently where you're from, or spotted something wrong? Tell us.
Sources
- Wiktionary: Aisling (Irish proper noun)
- Wiktionary: aisling (Irish noun)
- Wikipedia: Aisling (name)
- CSO VSA60, Girls Names in Ireland with 3 or More Occurrences
At a glance
Similar names
Sibling ideas
Spellings counted here
| Spelling | 2025 | All years |
|---|---|---|
| Aisling | 26 | 12,340 |
In Northern Ireland
#334 in 2025 with 4 babies. Best rank #60 (1998); 419 babies since 1997.
Source: NISRA, Open Government Licence.