Arba
Arabic name meaning "four" or "area consisting of four villages".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Arba. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 74.6% of registrations being male. The average person named Arba today is around 93 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arba births was 1916 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arba. 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 Arba is about 93 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Arbas were born before 1943.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Arba. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
1916
11 babies that year
Average age
93
years old
1938 SSA rank
#2,576
Tracked since 1898
Gender
Gender distribution for Arba
Arba is one of the more evenly split names in the SSA data. Of the 63 total registrations, 47 (74.6%) were male and 16 (25.4%) were female.
Arba as a male name
- Ranked #3,546 in 1938
- 5 male births in 1938
- Peak: 1898 (8 births)
Arba as a female name
- Ranked #2,576 in 1937
- 11 female births in 1937
- Peak: 1937 (11 births)
Popularity
Arba: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arba from the 1890s through to the 1930s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 26 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
Arba 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 Arba during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arba
The name Arba has its origins in the Arabic language, dating back to ancient times in the Middle East. The name is derived from the Arabic word "arba'a," which means "four" or "fourth." This connection suggests that the name may have been given to a fourth-born child or someone associated with the number four in some significant way.
One of the earliest recorded references to the name Arba can be found in the Hebrew Bible, also known as the Old Testament. In the book of Joshua, there is a mention of a man named Arba, who was the father of Anak and the progenitor of the Anakim, a race of giants who inhabited the land of Canaan.
Throughout history, the name Arba has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Arba'ad bin Al-Mundhir, an Arab prince who lived in the 6th century AD and was known for his political and military exploits in the pre-Islamic era.
Another prominent figure with the name Arba was Arba ibn al-Salt, a 9th-century Arab poet and literary critic from Baghdad. He was renowned for his contributions to the field of Arabic literature and his critical analyses of poetry.
In the 12th century, there was Arba ibn Rabban al-Tabari, a Jewish physician and philosopher from Persia. He was known for his work in the field of medicine and his writings on various philosophical topics.
During the 14th century, Arba'ad al-Dimashqi was a Syrian scholar and historian who wrote extensively about the history and culture of Damascus.
In more recent times, Arba Kokalari was an Albanian writer and translator who lived in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. He played a significant role in the Albanian National Awakening movement and contributed to the development of the Albanian language and literature.
While the name Arba may not be as common today as it once was, its historical significance and rich cultural heritage continue to be a source of fascination for scholars and historians alike.
People
Arba + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arba 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
Arba: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arba?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arba 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 57,125,723 US residents.
Is Arba a common name?
We classify Arba as "Very Rare". It ranks above 22.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 63 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arba most popular?
The single biggest year for Arba was 1916, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arba is about 93 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Arba a male name?
Yes, 74.6% of people registered as Arba 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.
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.