Artist
A bold, creative individual with artistic talents or pursuits.
Name Census estimates that about 765 living Americans carry the first name Artist. It is a predominantly male name (91.0% of registrations). The average person named Artist today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Artist births was 2022 (117 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Artist. 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.
People living today
765
~ 1 in 448,045 Americans
Peak year
2022
117 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,848
Tracked since 1916
Census
Artist in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 382 people with the first name Artist, which placed it at #24,991 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
#24,991
National first-name rank
People counted
382
382 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Artist
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Artist is Black at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Artist 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 Artist at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.0% · 252
- White18.3% · 70
- Hispanic or Latino7.9% · 30
- Two or more races4.5% · 17
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Artist
Artist leans heavily male at 91.0% of total registrations, but 76 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Artist as a male name
- Ranked #1,848 in 2024
- 87 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (101 births)
Artist as a female name
- Ranked #8,473 in 2024
- 12 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (16 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Artist leans strongly male. 319 people counted with this name were male (82.2%), compared with 69 female bearers (17.8%).
Popularity
Artist: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Artist from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 504 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
Artist 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 Artist during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Artists live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. New York, Florida, Texas recorded the most babies named Artist, while New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 20 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Artist
The name Artist is a relatively modern invention, arising in the late 19th century as a reflection of the growing cultural and societal importance of the arts. It is an English word derived from the Old French artiste, which in turn came from the Italian artista, meaning "one who practices an art or craft." The word itself can be traced back to the Latin ars, meaning "skill" or "craft."
While the concept of an artist as we understand it today has existed for centuries, the name Artist itself was not commonly used as a given name until the late 1800s and early 1900s. This coincided with the rise of artistic movements such as Impressionism, Expressionism, and Modernism, which elevated the status of artists in society and celebrated their unique talents and perspectives.
One of the earliest documented uses of Artist as a first name was in the United States in the late 19th century. However, it remained relatively rare until the mid-20th century when it gained popularity, particularly among families with artistic or creative leanings.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Artist, though most of them adopted it as a stage name or pseudonym rather than being given it at birth. For example, Artist Prudent (1918-2022) was a Haitian painter and sculptor who played a significant role in the Caribbean Renaissance movement. Another example is Artist Thornhill (1900-1963), an American jazz drummer and bandleader who was active in the Swing era.
In the realm of literature, Artist Wole Soyinka (born 1934) is a Nigerian playwright, poet, and essayist who was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986. Artist Browne (1786-1859) was an English artist, illustrator, and caricaturist known for his satirical works and social commentary.
More recently, Artist Olly (born 1981) is a British singer-songwriter and musician known for his pop and folk-rock style, while Artist Mercado (born 1994) is a Filipino-American social media influencer and artist who gained popularity for her vibrant digital artwork and activism.
It is worth noting that while the name Artist has gained traction in various cultures and communities, it remains a relatively uncommon choice, often chosen by parents with a strong connection to or appreciation for the arts and creativity.
People
Artist + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Artist 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
Artist: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Artist?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 765 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Artist 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 448,045 US residents.
Is Artist a common name?
We classify Artist as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 845 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Artist most popular?
The single biggest year for Artist was 2022, when 117 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Artist is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Artist in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 382 people with the name Artist, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,991 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 Artist 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 Artist?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Artist leans strongly male. 319 people counted with this name were male (82.2%), compared with 69 female bearers (17.8%). 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 Artist?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Artist is Black at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.3%) and Hispanic (7.9%). 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 Artist most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Artist in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.0% (252 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 Artist in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Artist a male name?
Yes, 91.0% of people registered as Artist in the SSA data are male. 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 Artist still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Artist 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 Artist 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 share the name Artist?
Find out how many Americans are named Artist on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.