Arianna
A feminine name of Italian origin meaning "very holy one".
Name Census estimates that about 101,452 living Americans carry the first name Arianna. It sits at #195 in the overall ranking, outside the top 50 but still well-represented. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arianna today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arianna births was 2014 (5,280 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arianna. 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
- • Although Arianna is used almost entirely for girls, the SSA data does show 73 boys registered with the name since 1880.
- • Arianna is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 17 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
101K
~ 1 in 3,378 Americans
Peak year
2014
5,280 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2016 SSA rank
#195
Tracked since 1963
Gender
Gender distribution for Arianna
Out of the 102,884 babies given the name Arianna since 1880, 99.9% were registered as female. The name sits firmly on the female side of the spectrum, with only a handful of male registrations across the entire dataset.
Arianna as a male name
- Ranked #10,852 in 2016
- 6 male births in 2016
- Peak: 2005 (12 births)
Arianna as a female name
- Ranked #195 in 2024
- 1,562 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2014 (5,274 births)
Popularity
Arianna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arianna from the 1960s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 41,837 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arianna 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 Arianna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ariannas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 51 states and territories. California, Texas, New York recorded the most babies named Arianna, while Vermont, Wyoming, North Dakota recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 1,991 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arianna
The name Arianna has its origins in ancient Greek culture. It is a feminine form of the name Arian, derived from the Greek word "arion" meaning "lion". The earliest recorded use of the name can be traced back to ancient Greek literature, where it was used to refer to a character from Greek mythology.
In Greek mythology, Arianna was the daughter of King Minos of Crete and was known for her role in helping Theseus escape the Labyrinth after he slew the Minotaur. This mythological reference is likely one of the reasons the name gained popularity in ancient Greece.
One of the earliest recorded historical figures with the name Arianna was Arianna of Locri, a Greek lyric poet who lived in the 7th century BC. She is considered one of the earliest known female poets in ancient Greek literature.
During the Byzantine era, the name Arianna was also used by several members of the Byzantine aristocracy. One notable figure was Arianna Comnena, a Byzantine princess and historian who lived from 1083 to 1148. She is best known for writing the Alexiad, a detailed account of the life and reign of her father, Emperor Alexios I Komnenos.
In the Middle Ages, the name Arianna was also used by some Italian noble families. One example is Arianna d'Este, a member of the House of Este who lived from 1529 to 1593. She was a patron of the arts and was known for her support of the Baroque composer Claudio Monteverdi.
In more recent history, the name Arianna has been used by several notable figures in the arts and literature. One example is Arianna Huffington, the Greek-American author, and co-founder of The Huffington Post, who was born in 1950.
Another notable figure with the name Arianna is the Italian actress Arianna Martedi, who was born in 1975 and has appeared in several popular Italian films and television shows.
People
Arianna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arianna 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
Arianna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arianna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 101,452 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arianna 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 3,378 US residents.
Is Arianna a common name?
We classify Arianna as "Common". It ranks above 99.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 102,884 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arianna most popular?
The single biggest year for Arianna was 2014, when 5,280 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arianna is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Arianna a female name?
Yes, 99.9% of people registered as Arianna 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.
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.