Authur
A Germanic name meaning "noble" or "bear".
Name Census estimates that about 1,004 living Americans carry the first name Authur. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Authur today is around 66 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Authur births was 1951 (56 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Authur. 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 Authur is about 66 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Authurs were born before 1970.
People living today
1.0K
~ 1 in 341,389 Americans
Peak year
1951
56 babies that year
Average age
66
years old
2006 SSA rank
#9,669
Tracked since 1880
Census
Authur in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 784 people with the first name Authur, which placed it at #14,861 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
#14,861
National first-name rank
People counted
784
784 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
48.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Authur
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Authur is Black at 48.6%. The next largest groups are White (36.4%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Authur 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 Authur at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American48.6% · 381
- White36.4% · 285
- Hispanic or Latino7.5% · 59
- Two or more races3.1% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 18
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.2% · 17
Popularity
Authur: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Authur from the 1880s through to the 2000s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1950s, with 410 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1950s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Authur 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 Authur during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Authurs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 9 states and territories. Georgia, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Authur, while Virginia, Arkansas, South Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Authur
The name Authur has its origins in the ancient Celtic culture of Britain and France. It is derived from the Celtic word "artos," which means bear. The name initially emerged as "Artur" or "Arthur" in the 6th century AD.
The name gained widespread fame through the legendary tales of King Arthur, a British leader who defended his kingdom against Saxon invaders in the late 5th and early 6th centuries. These stories, which first appeared in written form in the 12th century, contributed significantly to the popularity of the name throughout Europe.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Authur can be found in the 9th century poem "Y Gododdin," which mentions a warrior called "Arthur" who fought against the Saxons. The name also appears in the Welsh chronicle "Annales Cambriae" from the 10th century, which refers to the Battle of Badon, where Arthur is said to have led the Britons to victory against the Saxons.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Authur. One of the most famous was Authur Tudor (1486-1502), the eldest son of King Henry VII of England and Elizabeth of York. Although he died at a young age, Authur was briefly the heir apparent to the English throne.
Another prominent Authur was Authur Plantagenet (1187-1234), a son of King John of England and a skilled military commander who fought in the Barons' War against his nephew, King Henry III.
In the realm of literature, Authur Conan Doyle (1859-1930) was a Scottish writer best known for creating the iconic detective Sherlock Holmes. His stories and novels featuring Holmes and his companion Dr. Watson have become classics of the mystery genre.
Authur Miller (1915-2005) was an American playwright renowned for his works exploring the struggles and moral dilemmas of the common man. His most famous play, "Death of a Salesman," won the Pulitzer Prize for Drama in 1949 and is considered a masterpiece of modern theater.
Finally, Authur Ashe (1943-1993) was an American tennis player who achieved numerous accolades, including winning three Grand Slam singles titles. He was also a prominent activist and philanthropist, advocating for human rights and supporting various charitable causes throughout his life.
People
Authur + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Authur 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
Authur: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Authur?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,004 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Authur 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 341,389 US residents.
Is Authur a common name?
We classify Authur as "Rare". It ranks above 90.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,192 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Authur most popular?
The single biggest year for Authur was 1951, when 56 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Authur is about 66 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Authur in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 784 people with the name Authur, or 0.26 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,861 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 Authur 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 Authur?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Authur leans strongly male. 776 people counted with this name were male (98.2%), compared with 14 female bearers (1.8%). 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 Authur?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Authur is Black at 48.6%. The next largest groups are White (36.4%) and Hispanic (7.5%). 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 Authur most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Authur in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.6% (381 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 Authur in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Authur a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Authur 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 Authur still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Authur 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 Authur 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 are named Authur?
Want to know how many people share the name Authur? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.