Arletta
A feminine diminutive form of the French name Arlette, derived from Germanic roots meaning "small precious one".
Name Census estimates that about 808 living Americans carry the first name Arletta. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arletta today is around 67 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arletta births was 1930 (58 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arletta. 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
- • The typical person named Arletta is about 67 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Arlettas were born before 1969.
People living today
808
~ 1 in 424,201 Americans
Peak year
1930
58 babies that year
Average age
67
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,260
Tracked since 1883
Census
Arletta in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,137 people with the first name Arletta, which placed it at #11,337 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
#11,337
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,137 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
69.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arletta
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arletta is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.2%). 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 Arletta 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 Arletta at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White69.2% · 787
- Black or African American22.3% · 253
- American Indian and Alaska Native3.2% · 36
- Two or more races3.2% · 36
- Hispanic or Latino2.0% · 23
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 2
Popularity
Arletta: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arletta from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 474 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arletta 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 Arletta during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arlettas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Pennsylvania, Illinois, Wisconsin recorded the most babies named Arletta, while West Virginia, Minnesota, Oklahoma recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 27 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arletta
The name Arletta has its origins in the Germanic language, derived from the elements "ari" meaning "eagle" and "leit" meaning "people" or "warrior." It likely emerged during the Middle Ages in regions of Europe where Germanic tribes and languages held sway.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arletta can be traced back to the 11th century. Arletta was the name of the mother of William the Conqueror, the Norman ruler who conquered England in 1066. She was a tanner's daughter who caught the eye of Robert the Magnificent, the Duke of Normandy.
Another notable bearer of the name Arletta was Arletta Dawes, an American singer and actress born in 1915. She appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the mid-20th century, including roles in the classic movies "The Miracle Worker" and "The Grapes of Wrath."
In the 19th century, Arletta Lucchesi was an Italian operatic soprano who performed at the prestigious La Scala opera house in Milan. She was born in 1830 and had a successful career as a leading lady in various operas.
The name Arletta also appears in literature, such as in the novel "The Arletty Affair" by Jennie Goutet, which was published in 2001. The book revolves around the life of the French actress Arletty, who was accused of having an affair with a German officer during World War II.
Another notable Arletta was Arletta O'Demus, an American artist and sculptor born in 1925. She was known for her abstract metal sculptures and had exhibitions showcased in various galleries and museums across the United States.
While the name Arletta may have Germanic origins, it has been adopted and used in various cultures and regions throughout history, with each bearer leaving their mark and contributing to the rich tapestry of the name's legacy.
People
Arletta + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arletta 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
Arletta: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arletta?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 808 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arletta 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 424,201 US residents.
Is Arletta a common name?
We classify Arletta as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,386 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arletta most popular?
The single biggest year for Arletta was 1930, when 58 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arletta is about 67 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arletta in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,137 people with the name Arletta, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,337 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 Arletta 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 Arletta?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arletta appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,136 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Arletta?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arletta is White at 69.2%. The next largest groups are Black (22.3%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (3.2%). 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 Arletta most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arletta in the 2020 Census, accounting for 69.2% (787 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 Arletta in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arletta a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arletta 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 Arletta still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arletta 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 Arletta 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 common is the name Arletta?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Arletta on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.