Arlet
A French feminine name derived from a Germanic root meaning "eagle".
Name Census estimates that about 2,829 living Americans carry the first name Arlet. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arlet today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arlet births was 2023 (492 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arlet. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Arlet with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Arlet is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 121,157 Americans
Peak year
2023
492 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
1922 SSA rank
#719
Tracked since 1918
Census
Arlet in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,722 people with the first name Arlet, which placed it at #8,420 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
#8,420
National first-name rank
People counted
1.7K
1,722 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
84.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arlet
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arlet is Hispanic at 84.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.6%) and Black (2.4%). 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 Arlet 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 Arlet at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino84.6% · 1,457
- White11.6% · 200
- Black or African American2.4% · 42
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.6% · 11
- Two or more races0.6% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Arlet
Out of the 2,897 babies given the name Arlet since 1880, 99.8% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Arlet as a male name
- Ranked #4,345 in 1922
- 5 male births in 1922
- Peak: 1922 (5 births)
Arlet as a female name
- Ranked #719 in 2024
- 390 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2023 (492 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arlet leans strongly female. 1,669 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 59 male bearers (3.4%).
Popularity
Arlet: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arlet from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 8 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 1,578 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arlet 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 Arlet during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arlets live
The SSA's state-level files cover 27 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Arlet, while Utah, Ohio, New Mexico recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 75 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arlet
The name Arlet is believed to have its origins in the Old French language, with roots dating back to the Middle Ages. It is thought to be a diminutive form of the name Arlette, which itself is derived from the Germanic name Arluinda or Arlinda, meaning "absolutely pure" or "very beautiful."
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arlet can be found in the 12th century, in the work of the French poet Chrétien de Troyes. In his famous Arthurian romance, Yvain, the Knight of the Lion, there is a character named Arlette, which is likely the source of the diminutive form Arlet.
Throughout the Middle Ages and Renaissance period, the name Arlet was primarily used in France and other parts of Western Europe. It was particularly popular among the French nobility and upper classes, with several notable historical figures bearing the name.
One such figure was Arlet de Falaise, a Norman noblewoman who lived in the 11th century. She was the mistress of Robert I, Duke of Normandy, and the mother of William the Conqueror, the first Norman king of England.
In the 13th century, there was Arlet de Courtenay, a French noblewoman who was the daughter of Robert I, Count of Courtenay, and wife of Jean de Brienne, King of Jerusalem.
Another notable figure was Arlet de Valencourt, a French poet and courtier who lived in the 15th century and served as a lady-in-waiting to Queen Anne of Brittany.
In the 16th century, there was Arlet de Montpezat, a French noblewoman who was the wife of Jacques de Crussol, Duke of Uzès.
Moving into the 17th century, one can find Arlet de La Baume Le Blanc, a French noblewoman who was the wife of Henri de La Tour d'Auvergne, Viscount of Turenne and Marshal of France.
While the name Arlet has its roots in French and Western European history, it has since spread to other parts of the world, although it remains relatively uncommon in modern times.
People
Arlet + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arlet 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
Arlet: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arlet?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,829 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arlet 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 121,157 US residents.
Is Arlet a common name?
We classify Arlet as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,897 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arlet most popular?
The single biggest year for Arlet was 2023, when 492 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arlet is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arlet in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,722 people with the name Arlet, or 0.57 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #8,420 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 Arlet 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 Arlet?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arlet leans strongly female. 1,669 people counted with this name were female (96.6%), compared with 59 male bearers (3.4%). 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 Arlet?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arlet is Hispanic at 84.6%. The next largest groups are White (11.6%) and Black (2.4%). 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 Arlet most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arlet in the 2020 Census, accounting for 84.6% (1,457 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 Arlet in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arlet a female name?
Yes, 99.8% of people registered as Arlet in the SSA data are female. 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 Arlet still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arlet 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 Arlet 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 have the name Arlet?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.