Arantza
A feminine Basque name with uncertain meaning, possibly derived from arantza meaning "thorn".
Name Census estimates that about 1,154 living Americans carry the first name Arantza. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arantza today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arantza births was 2014 (179 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arantza. 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
- • Arantza is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 11 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 297,014 Americans
Peak year
2014
179 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,268
Tracked since 1996
Census
Arantza in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 843 people with the first name Arantza, which placed it at #14,082 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
#14,082
National first-name rank
People counted
843
843 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.6% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arantza
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arantza is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Arantza 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 Arantza at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.6% · 814
- White3.0% · 25
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 3
- Two or more races0.1% · 1
Popularity
Arantza: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arantza from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 747 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Arantza remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arantza 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 Arantza during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arantzas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. Texas, California, Florida recorded the most babies named Arantza, while Virginia, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 53 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arantza
The name Arantza is of Basque origin from the northern region of Spain and southwestern France. It is derived from the Basque word "arantz," meaning bramble or blackberry bush. The name likely emerged during the medieval period when the Basque culture flourished in the Pyrenees mountains.
Arantza was a relatively uncommon name in historical records, but a few notable individuals bore this moniker. One of the earliest recorded instances was Arantza of Navarre, a 13th-century noblewoman known for her philanthropic work in establishing hospitals and shelters for the poor. Another individual of note was Arantza Ibañez de Sangüesa, a 15th-century Basque poet whose works explored themes of love and nature.
In the 16th century, Arantza Ortiz de Zúñiga was a Spanish explorer who accompanied Hernán Cortés on his expeditions to the Americas. Her journals provided valuable insights into the cultural exchanges between the Spanish and indigenous populations. A century later, Arantza Urrutia was a renowned Basque weaver whose intricate tapestries adorned the palaces of European nobility.
Transitioning to the 19th century, Arantza Goizueta was a prominent Basque writer and advocate for women's education. Her book "Emakumeen Eskubideak" (Women's Rights) was a groundbreaking work that challenged traditional gender roles and promoted equal opportunities for women.
While the name Arantza has retained its cultural significance within the Basque community, it has been less prevalent in wider historical records. However, its origins and meaning continue to reflect the rich heritage of this unique region and its people.
People
Arantza + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arantza 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
Arantza: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arantza?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,154 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arantza 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 297,014 US residents.
Is Arantza a common name?
We classify Arantza as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,163 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arantza most popular?
The single biggest year for Arantza was 2014, when 179 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arantza 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 Arantza in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 843 people with the name Arantza, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,082 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 Arantza 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 Arantza?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arantza appears almost entirely female. Of the 844 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Arantza?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arantza is Hispanic at 96.6%. The next largest groups are White (3.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.4%). 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 Arantza most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arantza in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.6% (814 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 Arantza in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arantza a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arantza 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 Arantza still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arantza 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 Arantza 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 Arantza?
You can see how many Americans are named Arantza on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.