Argyle
A masculine Scots name referring to land near Loch Fyne.
Name Census estimates that about 19 living Americans carry the first name Argyle. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 83.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Argyle today is around 87 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Argyle births was 1929 (17 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Argyle. 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 Argyle with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • The typical person named Argyle is about 87 years old today, placing it firmly among the names of earlier generations. Most living Argyles were born before 1949.
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Argyle. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
19
~ 1 in 18,039,702 Americans
Peak year
1929
17 babies that year
Average age
87
years old
1950 SSA rank
#3,036
Tracked since 1912
Census
Argyle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 127 people with the first name Argyle, which placed it at #49,170 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
#49,170
National first-name rank
People counted
127
127 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.0
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
76.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Argyle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Argyle is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%). 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 Argyle 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 Argyle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White76.4% · 97
- Black or African American9.4% · 12
- Asian and Pacific Islander7.1% · 9
- Hispanic or Latino3.1% · 4
- Two or more races3.1% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.8% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Argyle
Argyle leans heavily male at 83.1% of total registrations, but 24 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Argyle as a male name
- Ranked #3,036 in 1950
- 7 male births in 1950
- Peak: 1922 (12 births)
Argyle as a female name
- Ranked #3,150 in 1929
- 9 female births in 1929
- Peak: 1929 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Argyle leans strongly male. 108 people counted with this name were male (85.0%), compared with 19 female bearers (15.0%).
Popularity
Argyle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Argyle from the 1910s through to the 1950s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1920s, with 60 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
Argyle 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 Argyle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Argyle
The name Argyle has its origins in the Scots language, derived from the Earldom of Argyll in western Scotland. The etymology can be traced back to the Gaelic words "ar" meaning "beside" and "goill" meaning "foreigners" or "strangers." This likely referred to the area's location on the border with the territory of the Norse-Gaels.
The earliest recorded use of the name Argyle dates back to the 12th century. It was initially used as a territorial designation before evolving into a surname and eventually a given name. One of the earliest notable individuals with the name was Argyll, the Lord of Lorne, who was a powerful magnate in the Scottish Highlands during the 13th century.
In the 14th century, the name Argyle appeared in the historical records of the Wars of Scottish Independence. Sir Colin Campbell of Argyll was a prominent supporter of Robert the Bruce and played a crucial role in the Battle of Bannockburn in 1314.
During the 16th century, the name gained further prominence with Archibald Campbell, 5th Earl of Argyll, who was a key figure in the Scottish Reformation. He was instrumental in establishing Protestantism in Scotland and supported the claim of Mary, Queen of Scots to the English throne.
Another notable individual with the name Argyle was Archibald Campbell, 9th Earl of Argyll, who lived from 1629 to 1685. He was a Scottish peer and military leader who initially supported the Royalist cause during the English Civil War but later switched sides to the Parliamentarians.
In the 18th century, John Campbell, 4th Duke of Argyll (1693-1770), was a prominent Scottish nobleman and military leader. He served as a Field Marshal in the British Army and played a significant role in the Jacobite Rising of 1715.
While the name Argyle has its roots in Scotland, it has been adopted and used in various parts of the world, particularly in English-speaking countries. However, its historical significance and earliest recorded instances can be traced back to the Scottish Highlands and the earldom from which it originated.
People
Argyle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Argyle 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
Argyle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Argyle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 19 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Argyle 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 18,039,702 US residents.
Is Argyle a common name?
We classify Argyle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 39.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 142 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Argyle most popular?
The single biggest year for Argyle was 1929, when 17 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Argyle is about 87 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Argyle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 127 people with the name Argyle, or 0.04 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #49,170 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 Argyle 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 Argyle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Argyle leans strongly male. 108 people counted with this name were male (85.0%), compared with 19 female bearers (15.0%). 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 Argyle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Argyle is White at 76.4%. The next largest groups are Black (9.4%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (7.1%). 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 Argyle most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Argyle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 76.4% (97 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 Argyle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Argyle a male name?
Yes, 83.1% of people registered as Argyle 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 Argyle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Argyle 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 Argyle 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 Argyle 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.