Ara
An ancient Armenian name meaning "prayer" or "supplication".
Name Census estimates that about 2,833 living Americans carry the first name Ara. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 73.1% of registrations being female. The average person named Ara today is around 33 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ara births was 2021 (93 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ara. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Ara with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
2.8K
~ 1 in 120,986 Americans
Peak year
2021
93 babies that year
Average age
33
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,116
Tracked since 1880
Census
Ara in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,116 people with the first name Ara, which placed it at #4,499 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
#4,499
National first-name rank
People counted
4.1K
4,116 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ara
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ara is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Ara 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 Ara at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.2% · 2,809
- Hispanic or Latino10.8% · 444
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.9% · 367
- Black or African American7.0% · 289
- Two or more races4.5% · 186
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 21
Gender
Gender distribution for Ara
Ara is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 4,808 total registrations, 1,291 (26.9%) were male and 3,517 (73.1%) were female.
Ara as a male name
- Ranked #6,186 in 2024
- 14 male births in 2024
- Peak: 1975 (34 births)
Ara as a female name
- Ranked #3,116 in 2024
- 51 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2022 (78 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ara on both sides of the split. Of the 4,113 people counted with this name, 2,045 were male (49.7%) and 2,068 were female (50.3%).
Popularity
Ara: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ara from the 1880s through to the 2020s, spanning 15 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 598 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Ara remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ara 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 Ara during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aras live
The SSA's state-level files cover 20 states and territories. California, Texas, Alabama recorded the most babies named Ara, while Virginia, Utah, Ohio recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 47 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ara
The name Ara has its origins in several ancient cultures and languages, with varying meanings and historical significance.
The Armenian name Ara is derived from the word "ar" meaning "fire" or "sun". It was a popular name among the ancient Armenians and can be traced back to the 5th century BC. In Armenian mythology, Ara was also the name of a legendary hero and king.
In Sanskrit, the name Ara means "spoke of a wheel" or "ray of light". It has been used in various Hindu texts and scriptures, often referring to the sun's rays or the spokes of a chariot wheel.
In Arabic, the name Ara can be a shortened form of the name Aras, which means "lion" or "brave". This name has been used by several historical figures, including Aras ibn Malik, a 7th-century Arab general and governor of Khurasan.
One of the earliest recorded uses of the name Ara comes from the ancient Greek playwright Aeschylus, who wrote a lost tragedy called "Ara" in the 5th century BC.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals with the name Ara:
1. Ara the Handsome (7th century BC), an Armenian prince and the founder of the Arshakuni dynasty.
2. Ara the Beautiful (4th century BC), an Armenian king who ruled the Kingdom of Armenia from 370 BC to 326 BC.
3. Ara Pazhduni (5th century AD), an Armenian military commander and prince who fought against the Persian Empire.
4. Ara Gevorgyan (1873-1919), an Armenian writer, poet, and translator known for his contributions to Armenian literature.
5. Ara Guler (1928-2018), a renowned Turkish-Armenian photographer and photojournalist, often referred to as the "Eye of Istanbul".
These are just a few examples of individuals who have carried the name Ara throughout history, each with their own cultural and historical significance.
People
Ara + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ara 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
Ara: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ara?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,833 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ara 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 120,986 US residents.
Is Ara a common name?
We classify Ara as "Rare". It ranks above 95% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 4,808 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ara most popular?
The single biggest year for Ara was 2021, when 93 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ara is about 33 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ara in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,116 people with the name Ara, or 1.36 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,499 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 Ara 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 Ara?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Ara on both sides of the split. Of the 4,113 people counted with this name, 2,045 were male (49.7%) and 2,068 were female (50.3%). 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 Ara?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ara is White at 68.2%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (10.8%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (8.9%). 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 Ara most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Ara in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.2% (2,809 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 Ara in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ara a female name?
Yes, 73.1% of people registered as Ara 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 Ara still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ara 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 Ara 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 Americans are named Ara?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.