Arec
A name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from the Greek "Aretê" meaning "excellence".
Name Census estimates that about 6 living Americans carry the first name Arec. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arec today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arec births was 2001 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arec. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Arec. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
6
~ 1 in 57,125,723 Americans
Peak year
2001
6 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2001 SSA rank
#9,328
Tracked since 2001
Popularity
Arec: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Arec 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 Arec during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 6 | 0 | 6 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Arec
The name Arec is a relatively obscure one, with its origins shrouded in mystery. Some scholars believe it to be derived from the ancient Etruscan language, which predates Latin and was spoken in what is now modern-day Italy. It is theorized that Arec may have been a variant of the Etruscan name Aruns, which itself may have been related to the Etruscan word "ar", meaning "warrior" or "hero".
While there are no definitive records of the name appearing in ancient texts or scriptures, some historians have speculated that it may have been used among the nobility or upper classes of Etruscan society. However, due to the scarcity of written records from that era, this remains largely conjecture.
The earliest recorded instances of the name Arec date back to the late Middle Ages. One notable figure was Arec de Montfort, a French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Fourth Crusade in the early 13th century. Another was Arec of Toulouse, a 14th-century scholar and philosopher who wrote extensively on the works of Aristotle.
In the 16th century, there was Arec Dobruski, a Polish soldier and diplomat who served under King Sigismund III Vasa. A century later, Arec Hällström was a Swedish botanist and explorer who made significant contributions to the study of flora in the Arctic regions.
Fast-forwarding to the 19th century, we find Arec Lysenko, a Ukrainian agronomist and biologist who pioneered the study of vernalization, a process that induces flowering in plants. His work had a profound impact on agricultural practices across Eastern Europe.
While the name Arec has never been particularly widespread, it has popped up throughout history, carried by individuals from diverse backgrounds and fields of expertise. Despite its relative obscurity, it remains a fascinating name with rich, if somewhat elusive, historical roots.
People
Arec + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arec 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
Arec: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arec?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 6 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arec 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 Arec a common name?
We classify Arec 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, 6 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arec most popular?
The single biggest year for Arec was 2001, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arec is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Arec in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arec a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arec 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.
Is Arec still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arec 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 Arec 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How common is the name Arec?
Our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers how many people share the name Arec at a glance, with the living-bearer count up front.