Arleth
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly combining the Germanic elements "arna" (eagle) and "liut" (people).
Name Census estimates that about 5,631 living Americans carry the first name Arleth. It sits at #429 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arleth today is around 12 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arleth births was 2024 (715 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arleth. 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.
Key insights
- • Arleth is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 12 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
5.6K
~ 1 in 60,869 Americans
Peak year
2024
715 babies that year
Average age
12
years old
2023 SSA rank
#429
Tracked since 1991
Census
Arleth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 2,841 people with the first name Arleth, which placed it at #5,845 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
#5,845
National first-name rank
People counted
2.8K
2,841 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.9
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
97.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arleth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arleth is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Arleth 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 Arleth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino97.5% · 2,771
- White1.7% · 49
- Black or African American0.5% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.3% · 8
Gender
Gender distribution for Arleth
Out of the 5,685 babies given the name Arleth since 1880, 99.9% 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.
Arleth as a male name
- Ranked #12,386 in 2023
- 5 male births in 2023
- Peak: 2023 (5 births)
Arleth as a female name
- Ranked #429 in 2024
- 715 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2024 (715 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arleth appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,845 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male.
Popularity
Arleth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arleth from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 2,175 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
Arleth 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 Arleth during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arleths live
The SSA's state-level files cover 37 states and territories. Texas, California, Arizona recorded the most babies named Arleth, while Nebraska, Idaho, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 126 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arleth
The name Arleth is believed to have originated from the Old English language, deriving from the combination of the Germanic elements "ari" meaning "eagle" and "leoðu" meaning "song" or "poem." This suggests that the name may have been used to refer to someone with a poetic or melodious voice, likened to the majestic call of an eagle.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Arleth can be traced back to the Anglo-Saxon period in England, around the 7th to 11th centuries. During this time, names with similar spellings such as Arlede, Arlitha, and Arletha were also found in various historical records and charters.
One of the earliest known historical figures bearing the name Arleth was a Benedictine abbess who lived in the late 11th century. She served as the abbess of the Romsey Abbey in Hampshire, England, and was renowned for her piety and leadership.
Another notable figure named Arleth was a 12th-century cleric and scholar from Normandy, France. He served as the Archbishop of Rouen and was known for his contributions to the field of canon law.
In the 13th century, a woman named Arleth de Montfort was recorded as a member of the influential Montfort family in England. She was the sister of Simon de Montfort, a prominent figure in the Barons' War against King Henry III.
During the 15th century, an English noblewoman named Arleth Neville was mentioned in historical records. She was the daughter of Richard Neville, Earl of Warwick, and was married to Sir John Conyers, a prominent knight.
Lastly, in the 16th century, a woman named Arleth Harrington was recorded as a member of the gentry in Lancashire, England. She was the daughter of Sir James Harrington and was known for her charitable works and support of the local community.
Throughout its history, the name Arleth has remained relatively uncommon, but it has carried a distinctive and poetic quality, reflecting its linguistic roots and connection to the evocative imagery of an eagle's song.
People
Arleth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arleth 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
Arleth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arleth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5,631 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arleth 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 60,869 US residents.
Is Arleth a common name?
We classify Arleth as "Rare". It ranks above 96.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5,685 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arleth most popular?
The single biggest year for Arleth was 2024, when 715 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arleth is about 12 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arleth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 2,841 people with the name Arleth, or 0.94 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,845 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 Arleth 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 Arleth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arleth appears almost entirely female. Of the 2,845 people counted with this name, 99.4% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Arleth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arleth is Hispanic at 97.5%. The next largest groups are White (1.7%) and Black (0.5%). 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 Arleth most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arleth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.5% (2,771 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 Arleth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arleth a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Arleth 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 Arleth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arleth 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 Arleth 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 Arleth as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.