Arcola
A feminine name derived from Latin meaning "little box" or "little chest".
Name Census estimates that about 35 living Americans carry the first name Arcola. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arcola today is around 84 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arcola births was 1919 (16 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arcola. 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 Arcola is about 84 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Arcolas were born before 1952.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Arcola. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
35
~ 1 in 9,792,981 Americans
Peak year
1919
16 babies that year
Average age
84
years old
1958 SSA rank
#5,435
Tracked since 1903
Census
Arcola in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 143 people with the first name Arcola, which placed it at #46,519 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
#46,519
National first-name rank
People counted
143
143 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
78.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arcola
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arcola is Black at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Arcola 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 Arcola at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American78.3% · 112
- White15.4% · 22
- Two or more races4.2% · 6
- Hispanic or Latino1.4% · 2
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.7% · 1
Popularity
Arcola: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arcola from the 1900s through to the 1950s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 101 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1920s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arcola 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 Arcola during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arcolas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arcola
The name Arcola is derived from the Latin word 'arculus', which means a small arc or curve. It is believed to have originated in Italy during the Middle Ages.
Arcola is a small town in the province of La Spezia, located in the northern Italian region of Liguria. The town played a significant role in the Napoleonic Wars, particularly in the Battle of Arcola in 1796, which is thought to be the source of the name's widespread use.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arcola can be found in the writings of the Roman historian Livy, who mentioned a place called "Arcola" in his work "Ab Urbe Condita". However, it is unclear whether this referred to the modern-day town or a different location.
Arcola gained prominence as a given name after the Battle of Arcola, where Napoleon Bonaparte led his troops to victory against the Austro-Sardinian forces. The battle was a pivotal moment in the Napoleonic Wars, and Napoleon's daring leadership and tactical brilliance were celebrated throughout Europe.
Over the centuries, several notable individuals have borne the name Arcola. One of the earliest was Arcola Vincenzo (1460-1522), an Italian painter and architect from the Renaissance period. His works can still be seen in churches and palaces across Italy.
Another prominent figure was Arcola Garibaldi (1807-1882), an Italian general and close associate of the revolutionary leader Giuseppe Garibaldi. He played a crucial role in the Unification of Italy and the establishment of the Kingdom of Italy.
In the 20th century, Arcola Mussolini (1890-1976) was an Italian politician and the youngest brother of the fascist dictator Benito Mussolini. He served as a member of the Italian Parliament and held various governmental positions during his brother's regime.
Arcola Capone (1899-1947) was an American gangster and the younger brother of the notorious mobster Al Capone. He was involved in various criminal activities, including bootlegging and racketeering, during the Prohibition era in the United States.
Finally, Arcola Mandela (1918-2013) was a South African anti-apartheid activist and the younger sister of Nelson Mandela. She played a significant role in the struggle against apartheid and was imprisoned several times for her involvement in the movement.
People
Arcola + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arcola 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
Arcola: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arcola?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 35 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arcola 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 9,792,981 US residents.
Is Arcola a common name?
We classify Arcola as "Very Rare". It ranks above 48.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 324 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arcola most popular?
The single biggest year for Arcola was 1919, when 16 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arcola is about 84 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arcola in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 143 people with the name Arcola, or 0.05 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #46,519 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 Arcola 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 Arcola?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arcola leans strongly female. 137 people counted with this name were female (96.5%), compared with 5 male bearers (3.5%). 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 Arcola?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arcola is Black at 78.3%. The next largest groups are White (15.4%) and Two or More Races (4.2%). 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 Arcola most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Arcola in the 2020 Census, accounting for 78.3% (112 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 Arcola in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arcola a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arcola 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 Arcola still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arcola 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 Arcola 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 Arcola?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.