Arvel
The bearer of this uncommon name is one who commands reverence.
Name Census estimates that about 592 living Americans carry the first name Arvel. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arvel today is around 72 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arvel births was 1921 (77 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arvel. 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 Arvel is about 72 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Arvels were born before 1964.
People living today
592
~ 1 in 578,977 Americans
Peak year
1921
77 babies that year
Average age
72
years old
2006 SSA rank
#12,197
Tracked since 1894
Census
Arvel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 627 people with the first name Arvel, which placed it at #17,540 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
#17,540
National first-name rank
People counted
627
627 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arvel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arvel is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Arvel 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 Arvel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.2% · 478
- Black or African American14.7% · 92
- Two or more races4.1% · 26
- Hispanic or Latino2.6% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.8% · 11
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 4
Popularity
Arvel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arvel from the 1890s through to the 2000s, spanning 12 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 591 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arvel 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 Arvel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arvels live
The SSA's state-level files cover 11 states and territories. Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma recorded the most babies named Arvel, while Utah, Illinois, West Virginia recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 64 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arvel
The name Arvel is believed to have originated from the Old French language, likely derived from the Germanic root "arn," meaning "eagle." It was first documented in the medieval period, around the 12th or 13th century, primarily in regions of present-day France and neighboring areas.
One of the earliest known references to the name Arvel can be found in the 13th-century French epic poem "Le Roman de la Rose," where it was used as a character name. However, its usage remained relatively rare throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance period.
One notable historical figure who bore the name Arvel was Arvel de Mayenne, a French nobleman and military commander who lived in the 15th century. He played a significant role in the Hundred Years' War, serving under the French king Charles VII.
In the 16th century, Arvel Barlow was an English explorer and navigator who accompanied Sir Walter Raleigh on his expeditions to the New World. He is credited with mapping parts of the eastern coast of present-day North Carolina.
Another individual named Arvel was Arvel Bird, an American artist and illustrator born in 1900. He is best known for his vibrant illustrations in children's books and magazines during the mid-20th century.
Moving forward in time, Arvel Crynssen was a Dutch-born American artist and painter who lived from 1916 to 1997. He was known for his abstract expressionist works and his contributions to the New York art scene in the mid-20th century.
Lastly, Arvel Haley was an American professional baseball player who played as an outfielder in the Negro Leagues during the 1930s and 1940s. He was born in 1905 and played for several teams, including the Kansas City Monarchs and the Birmingham Black Barons.
While the name Arvel has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these individuals serve as examples of its sporadic usage across different cultures and time periods, showcasing its enduring presence as a unique and intriguing given name.
People
Arvel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arvel 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
Arvel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arvel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 592 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arvel 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 578,977 US residents.
Is Arvel a common name?
We classify Arvel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 86.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,202 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arvel most popular?
The single biggest year for Arvel was 1921, when 77 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arvel is about 72 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arvel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 627 people with the name Arvel, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,540 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 Arvel 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 Arvel?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arvel leans strongly male. 622 people counted with this name were male (98.9%), compared with 7 female bearers (1.1%). 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 Arvel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arvel is White at 76.2%. The next largest groups are Black (14.7%) and Two or More Races (4.1%). 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 Arvel most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arvel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.2% (478 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 Arvel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arvel a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arvel 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 Arvel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arvel 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 Arvel 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 Arvel?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.