Given name & surname
Ace
“one who excels; number one; the best”
Ace is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “one who excels; number one; the best.”
Meaning & origin
What it means
One English interpretation is “one who excels; number one; the best.”
Where it comes from
An origin associated with this spelling is English.
The story
Published U.S. birth records include this spelling as early as 1882. This is the earliest published observation available here, rather than a date for the name’s origin.
From dated birth records
Ace through the years
- Babies since 1880
- 26,483
- 26,319 boys · 164 girls
- Most popular year
- 2022
- 2,517 babies
- 2025
- 2,250
- #164 for boys · #8,864 for girls
- 2021–25 vs 2016–20
- +60%
- Rising fast
Where it’s given
By the numbers
In 2025, this name appeared in 2,239 U.S. birth records for boys, ranking No. 164 among boys’ names. Average annual use for boys was 60.2% higher in 2021–2025 than in 2016–2020. It also appeared in 11 birth records for girls in 2025. In 2025, California had the largest reported state-level birth count for boys with this name (289). Published U.S. population figures for this spelling include 11,608 as a first name in 2020; 1,266 as a surname in 2020.
From Social Security birth records and U.S. Census name counts for this exact spelling. Other spellings are counted separately.
Ace’s family of names
In English usage, Ace as a surname has an affectionate form in Acey. Ace has a related form in Acie. Ace has a related form in Acey.
Inner ring: spellings · middle: nicknames and forms · outer: across languages.
Nicknames & forms 8
Diminutives, pet forms, short forms and variants used alongside the name.
Spellings & scripts 1
The same name written differently, including transliterations into other scripts.
Across languages 1
Equivalents and cognates in other languages, plus older forms it grew from.
People named Ace
- Ace RusevskiYugoslavian boxer (born 1956)
- Ace BaileyAmerican basketball player (born 2006)
- Ace AtkinsAmerican writerborn 1970
- Ace YoungAmerican singer-songwriterborn 1980
- Ace AustinAmerican professional wrestlerborn 1997
- Ace MagashuleSouth African politicianborn 1959
- Aco JonovskiMacedonian handball playerborn 1980
- Ace SandersAmerican football player (born 1991)
- Ace HarrisAmerican jazz pianist (1910–1964)
Characters named Ace: Portgas D. Ace (One Piece), Ace Ventura (fictional character).
Listed by how widely each person is written about, which says nothing about the name itself.
Similar names
If you love Ace, these share its style, era, origin or sound, from outside its own family.
Tate
Tate is used as a given name and a surname. One English interpretation is “a cheerful man; one who brings happiness to others.” Its derivation is not certain.
95% boys · 5% girls
Lane
“one who takes the narrow path”
93% boys · 7% girls
Zane
“one who is bold”
99% boys · 1% girls
Nash
“from the cliffs”
99% boys · 1% girls
Walker
“walker of the forests” · “one who trods the cloth”
97% boys · 3% girls
Gael
“woman from Ireland” · “one who is or speaks Gaelic”
>99% boys
Barrett
“having the strength of a bear” · “an argumentative person”
98% boys · 2% girls
Baker
“one who bakes”
91% boys · 9% girls