Arely
A feminine name of Spanish origin meaning "altar of beauty".
Name Census estimates that about 10,799 living Americans carry the first name Arely. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arely today is around 18 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arely births was 2007 (552 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arely. 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 Arely with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Arely is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 18 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
11K
~ 1 in 31,739 Americans
Peak year
2007
552 babies that year
Average age
18
years old
2024 SSA rank
#924
Tracked since 1972
Census
Arely in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 10,327 people with the first name Arely, which placed it at #2,409 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
#2,409
National first-name rank
People counted
10K
10,327 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
3.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
98.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arely
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arely is Hispanic at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Arely 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 Arely at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino98.2% · 10,143
- White1.3% · 132
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.2% · 18
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 13
- Black or African American0.1% · 12
- Two or more races0.1% · 9
Popularity
Arely: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arely from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 4,316 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arely 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 Arely during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arelys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 31 states and territories. California, Texas, Illinois recorded the most babies named Arely, while Pennsylvania, Maryland, Iowa recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 309 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arely
The name Arely has its origins in Latin and Greek languages, derived from the name Areli, which means "messenger of God." This name can be traced back to the early Christian era, around the 4th century AD, when it was commonly used in regions of the Mediterranean and Middle East.
In ancient Greek mythology, Areli was the name of a minor goddess associated with the moon and the protection of travelers. There are references to this name in some early Greek texts, notably in the writings of the poet Callimachus, who lived in the 3rd century BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arely can be found in the works of St. Jerome, a 4th-century Christian scholar and translator of the Bible. He mentioned a woman named Arely in his writings, describing her as a devout Christian who lived in the region of Antioch (present-day Turkey).
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Arely. One of the earliest was Arely of Auxerre (c. 590 - c. 670), a Frankish abbess and saint who founded the Abbey of Notre-Dame in Auxerre, France.
Another prominent figure was Arely of Trier (c. 950 - 1022), a German abbess and scholar who was known for her contributions to the development of the Benedictine monastic tradition in the Holy Roman Empire.
In the 12th century, there was Arely of Le Mans (c. 1120 - 1185), a French nun and mystic who was known for her visions and prophecies, which were recorded in a collection called the "Revelations of Arely."
During the Renaissance, Arely Fiore (1460 - 1521) was an Italian humanist and poet who was part of the circle of scholars and artists in Florence, Italy.
In more recent times, Arely Guzman (1912 - 2008) was a Mexican activist and educator who fought for women's rights and founded several educational institutions in her home country.
While the name Arely has ancient roots and a rich history, it is important to note that its popularity and usage may have varied across different regions and time periods. The examples provided here are meant to illustrate some of the notable individuals who bore this name throughout history.
People
Arely + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arely 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
Arely: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arely?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 10,799 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arely 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 31,739 US residents.
Is Arely a common name?
We classify Arely as "Uncommon". It ranks above 97.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 10,958 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arely most popular?
The single biggest year for Arely was 2007, when 552 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arely is about 18 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arely in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 10,327 people with the name Arely, or 3.42 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #2,409 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 Arely 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 Arely?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arely appears almost entirely female. Of the 10,324 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Arely?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arely is Hispanic at 98.2%. The next largest groups are White (1.3%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (0.2%). 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 Arely most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arely in the 2020 Census, accounting for 98.2% (10,143 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 Arely in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arely a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arely 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 Arely still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arely 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 Arely 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 Arely as a first name?
For a quick modern take, check how many Americans are named Arely on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.