Arel
A masculine Hebrew name meaning "lion of God".
Name Census estimates that about 271 living Americans carry the first name Arel. It is a predominantly male name (98.0% of registrations). The average person named Arel today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arel births was 2016 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arel. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Arel with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
271
~ 1 in 1,264,776 Americans
Peak year
2016
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,470
Tracked since 1916
Census
Arel in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 385 people with the first name Arel, which placed it at #24,842 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
#24,842
National first-name rank
People counted
385
385 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
40.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arel
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arel is Hispanic at 40.0%. The next largest groups are White (37.4%) and Black (14.5%). 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 Arel 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 Arel at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino40.0% · 154
- White37.4% · 144
- Black or African American14.5% · 56
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.4% · 17
- Two or more races3.1% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Arel
Arel leans heavily male at 98.0% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Arel as a male name
- Ranked #6,470 in 2024
- 13 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2016 (15 births)
Arel as a female name
- Ranked #11,623 in 1991
- 6 female births in 1991
- Peak: 1991 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Arel on both sides of the split. Of the 385 people counted with this name, 287 were male (74.5%) and 98 were female (25.5%).
Popularity
Arel: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arel from the 1910s through to the 2020s, spanning 10 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 100 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Arel remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arel 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 Arel during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arels live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arel
The name Arel has its origins in the Armenian language and culture, with roots dating back to the medieval period. Arel is derived from the Armenian word "ar," meaning "man" or "warrior," and the suffix "-el," which is a diminutive form. The name was commonly used among Armenians during the Middle Ages, particularly in regions such as historic Armenia and the Armenian Kingdom of Cilicia.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Arel can be found in the Armenian epic poem "Daredevils of Sassoun," which dates back to the 8th century AD. In this epic, Arel is depicted as a brave warrior and one of the central characters. The name also appears in various Armenian manuscripts and historical records from the medieval period.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Arel. One of the most famous was Arel Tarkhanyan (1881-1951), an Armenian painter and art critic who played a significant role in the development of modern Armenian art. Another notable figure was Arel Babajanyan (1920-1993), a renowned Armenian composer and pianist who made significant contributions to classical music.
In the realm of literature, Arel Darbinyan (1924-2004) was a prominent Armenian writer and playwright, known for his works that explored the human experience and Armenian identity. Additionally, Arel Poghosyan (1923-2008) was a respected Armenian educator and author who made significant contributions to the field of pedagogy.
Another noteworthy individual was Arel Demirgian (1914-2005), an Armenian-American architect and urban planner who played a pivotal role in the development of several major cities in the United States, including Detroit and Los Angeles.
While the name Arel is not as common today as it once was, it remains a part of the rich cultural heritage of the Armenian people, with a long and storied history that spans centuries.
People
Arel + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arel 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
Arel: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arel?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 271 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arel 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 1,264,776 US residents.
Is Arel a common name?
We classify Arel as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 296 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arel most popular?
The single biggest year for Arel was 2016, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arel is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arel in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 385 people with the name Arel, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,842 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 Arel 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 Arel?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Arel on both sides of the split. Of the 385 people counted with this name, 287 were male (74.5%) and 98 were female (25.5%). 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 Arel?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arel is Hispanic at 40.0%. The next largest groups are White (37.4%) and Black (14.5%). 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 Arel most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arel in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.0% (154 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 Arel in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arel a male name?
Yes, 98.0% of people registered as Arel 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 Arel still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arel 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 Arel 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 many people have Arel as a first name?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.