Arial
A feminine name derived from the Hebrew word "Ariel" meaning "lion of God".
Name Census estimates that about 1,161 living Americans carry the first name Arial. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arial today is around 25 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arial births was 1991 (69 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arial. 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 Arial with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.2K
~ 1 in 295,223 Americans
Peak year
1991
69 babies that year
Average age
25
years old
2022 SSA rank
#12,365
Tracked since 1981
Census
Arial in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,366 people with the first name Arial, which placed it at #9,941 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
#9,941
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,366 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
40.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arial
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arial is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (20.4%). 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 Arial 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 Arial at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White40.0% · 547
- Black or African American28.4% · 388
- Hispanic or Latino20.4% · 278
- Two or more races5.9% · 81
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.6% · 36
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.6% · 36
Popularity
Arial: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arial from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 431 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arial 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 Arial during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arials live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. Texas, California, Illinois recorded the most babies named Arial, while Wisconsin, Ohio, Minnesota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 23 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arial
The given name Arial has its origins in the Hebrew language, deriving from the word "Ariel" which translates to "lion of God" or "lioness of God." This name can be traced back to ancient times, with mentions found in religious texts such as the Bible, where it refers to both a person and a place.
In the Old Testament, Ariel is mentioned as a name for Jerusalem, symbolizing the city's strength and resilience. Additionally, it is the name of one of the leaders of the exiles who returned to Jerusalem from Babylon, as recorded in the Book of Ezra.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Arial was Arial Annus, a 1st-century BC Roman poet from Hispania Baetica, now modern-day Spain. His works, though largely lost to time, were celebrated during his lifetime.
In the 12th century, Arial de Blois was a prominent French nobleman and crusader who participated in the Third Crusade. He was known for his bravery and leadership in battles against the Muslim forces.
During the Renaissance period, Arial Montalbano was an Italian poet and humanist from Siena, born in 1442. He was renowned for his sonnets and contributions to the literary revival of the time.
In more recent history, Arial Pardee was an American businessman and entrepreneur from the late 19th century. He founded the Pardee-Ellenberger Company, which played a significant role in the development of the automotive industry.
Another notable figure was Arial Traugott, a 20th-century American linguist and professor at Stanford University, born in 1912. His research focused on historical linguistics and the study of language change over time.
While the name Arial has its roots in ancient Hebrew culture, it has been embraced by various communities worldwide, with individuals from diverse backgrounds bearing this unique and meaningful name throughout history.
People
Arial + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arial 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
Arial: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arial?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,161 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arial 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 295,223 US residents.
Is Arial a common name?
We classify Arial as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,189 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arial most popular?
The single biggest year for Arial was 1991, when 69 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arial is about 25 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arial in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,366 people with the name Arial, or 0.45 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,941 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 Arial 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 Arial?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arial leans strongly female. 1,262 people counted with this name were female (92.1%), compared with 108 male bearers (7.9%). 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 Arial?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arial is White at 40.0%. The next largest groups are Black (28.4%) and Hispanic (20.4%). 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 Arial most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arial in the 2020 Census, accounting for 40.0% (547 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 Arial in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arial a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arial 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 Arial still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arial 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 Arial 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 Americans are named Arial?
See how many people have the name Arial on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.