Arcelia
An uncommon feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "pure, untouched wilderness".
Name Census estimates that about 1,427 living Americans carry the first name Arcelia. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arcelia today is around 42 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arcelia births was 1975 (46 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arcelia. 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.
People living today
1.4K
~ 1 in 240,192 Americans
Peak year
1975
46 babies that year
Average age
42
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,167
Tracked since 1908
Census
Arcelia in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 4,760 people with the first name Arcelia, which placed it at #4,066 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
#4,066
National first-name rank
People counted
4.8K
4,760 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
96.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arcelia
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arcelia is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.4%). 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 Arcelia 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 Arcelia at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino96.2% · 4,579
- White1.5% · 73
- Black or African American1.4% · 68
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.4% · 21
- Two or more races0.2% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 9
Popularity
Arcelia: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arcelia from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 13 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1970s, with 291 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1970s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arcelia 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 Arcelia during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arcelias live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. California, Texas, Arizona recorded the most babies named Arcelia, while New Mexico, Arizona, Texas recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 219 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arcelia
The given name Arcelia has its origins in the Late Latin language, emerging around the 5th century AD. It is believed to be derived from the Latin word "arcella," which means "small chest" or "small box." This name likely originated in regions where Late Latin was spoken, such as parts of Europe and the Mediterranean basin.
Arcelia was a relatively uncommon name during the Middle Ages, but it did appear in some historical records from that period. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name was in a 9th-century monastic record from a convent in northern Italy, referring to a nun named Arcelia.
Throughout history, there have been a few notable individuals who bore the name Arcelia. One such person was Arcelia of Avignon, a 13th-century French noblewoman and patron of the arts, who lived from approximately 1220 to 1290. Another was Arcelia de Castilla, a 15th-century Spanish poet and scholar, who was active in the court of King Juan II of Castile and León.
In the 16th century, Arcelia Girolama was an Italian painter and engraver who lived from around 1510 to 1570. She was known for her religious works and was commissioned by several prominent families in Renaissance Italy.
Moving forward to the 19th century, Arcelia Gallardo was a Mexican writer and activist who lived from 1841 to 1911. She was a pioneering figure in the Mexican feminist movement and contributed to several literary journals and publications.
Finally, in the 20th century, Arcelia Ramírez was a notable Mexican sculptor and ceramist who lived from 1923 to 2021. She was known for her innovative techniques and her works that drew inspiration from pre-Hispanic Mexican art and culture.
While the name Arcelia has remained relatively uncommon throughout history, these examples demonstrate its enduring presence across various cultures and time periods, often associated with individuals who made significant contributions in fields such as art, literature, and activism.
People
Arcelia + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arcelia 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
Arcelia: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arcelia?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,427 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arcelia 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 240,192 US residents.
Is Arcelia a common name?
We classify Arcelia as "Rare". It ranks above 92.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,816 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arcelia most popular?
The single biggest year for Arcelia was 1975, when 46 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arcelia is about 42 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arcelia in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 4,760 people with the name Arcelia, or 1.58 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,066 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 Arcelia 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 Arcelia?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arcelia appears almost entirely female. Of the 4,767 people counted with this name, 99.9% 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 Arcelia?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arcelia is Hispanic at 96.2%. The next largest groups are White (1.5%) and Black (1.4%). 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 Arcelia most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arcelia in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.2% (4,579 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 Arcelia in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arcelia a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arcelia 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 Arcelia still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arcelia 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 Arcelia 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 common is the name Arcelia?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Arcelia on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.