Ared
A masculine name of Aramaic origin meaning "descendant" or "rose".
Name Census estimates that about 10 living Americans carry the first name Ared. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ared today is around 41 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ared births was 1981 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ared. 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 Ared. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
10
~ 1 in 34,275,434 Americans
Peak year
1981
5 babies that year
Average age
41
years old
1985 SSA rank
#6,588
Tracked since 1981
Popularity
Ared: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Ared 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 Ared during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1980s | 10 | 0 | 10 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Ared
The name Ared has its origins in the ancient Aramaic language, which was widely spoken in the Middle East during the 8th century BCE to the 7th century CE. The name is derived from the Aramaic word "arad," which means "servant" or "slave." This suggests that the name may have been initially given to individuals of low social status or servitude.
In the ancient Aramaic culture, names often carried significant meanings and were chosen to reflect the child's characteristics, circumstances of birth, or the parents' hopes and aspirations for their offspring. The name Ared could have symbolized humility, service, or a desire for the child to embrace a life of service to others or to a higher power.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ared can be found in the Book of Ezra, a part of the Hebrew Bible. In Ezra 8:16, a man named Ared is mentioned among a list of individuals who were summoned by Ezra the scribe to join him on a journey from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Throughout history, the name Ared has appeared in various forms and spellings, such as Arad, Aradus, and Aredes, reflecting the linguistic and cultural influences of different regions and time periods.
One notable figure named Ared was Ared of Patara, a Greek philosopher and mathematician who lived in the 3rd century BCE. He is credited with making significant contributions to the study of conic sections and is said to have written a treatise on the subject.
Another individual with the name Ared was Ared ibn Malik, an Arab poet who lived in the 7th century CE during the early days of Islam. He was known for his eloquent and passionate poetry, which celebrated the virtues of bravery, loyalty, and honor.
In the 12th century, there was a famous Christian monk named Ared of Rievaulx, who was known for his piety, wisdom, and scholarly writings on spirituality and theology.
During the Renaissance period, Ared Vespucci, an Italian navigator and explorer, played a significant role in the exploration of the Americas. He is believed to have been the first to recognize that the lands discovered by Christopher Columbus were not part of Asia but a new continent, which later became known as the Americas.
Finally, in the 19th century, Ared Gyllenswärd was a Swedish painter and art teacher who is renowned for his portraiture and landscape paintings, which captured the beauty and essence of the Swedish countryside.
People
Ared + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ared 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
Ared: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ared?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ared 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 34,275,434 US residents.
Is Ared a common name?
We classify Ared as "Very Rare". It ranks above 28.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ared most popular?
The single biggest year for Ared was 1981, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ared is about 41 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 Ared in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ared a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ared 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 Ared still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ared 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 Ared 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 many people share the name Ared?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.