Arish
Of Arabic origin meaning "high throne, exalted palace".
Name Census estimates that about 307 living Americans carry the first name Arish. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arish today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arish births was 2024 (34 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arish. 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 Arish with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
307
~ 1 in 1,116,464 Americans
Peak year
2024
34 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#3,389
Tracked since 1986
Census
Arish in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 268 people with the first name Arish, which placed it at #31,773 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
#31,773
National first-name rank
People counted
268
268 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
86.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arish
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arish is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and White (3.0%). 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 Arish 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 Arish at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander86.9% · 233
- Black or African American5.6% · 15
- White3.0% · 8
- Hispanic or Latino2.2% · 6
- Two or more races1.9% · 5
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 1
Popularity
Arish: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arish from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 142 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arish 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 Arish during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arishs live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arish
The given name Arish is believed to have originated from the Arabic language. It is derived from the Arabic word "arish," which means "a temporary shelter" or "a hut made of palm leaves." This name has been in use since ancient times in the Middle East and North Africa.
In the early Islamic era, the name Arish appeared in several historical records and texts. One notable reference is found in the writings of the renowned Islamic scholar and traveler, Ibn Battuta, who visited the town of Arish in the 14th century during his travels through the Middle East.
The earliest recorded example of the name Arish dates back to the 7th century CE, when it was used by a companion of the Prophet Muhammad named Arish ibn Malik. He was a prominent figure in early Islamic history and participated in several battles alongside the Prophet.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Arish. One of the most famous was Arish al-Khwarizmi, a renowned mathematician and astronomer who lived in the 9th century CE. He is credited with introducing the concept of algebra and making significant contributions to the field of mathematics.
Another notable figure was Arish al-Din al-Bukhari, a 13th-century Islamic scholar and historian from present-day Uzbekistan. He is known for his extensive writings on Islamic history and jurisprudence.
In the 15th century, Arish al-Qadi was a renowned poet and calligrapher from Egypt. His works were widely celebrated and appreciated in the Ottoman Empire.
During the early 20th century, Arish Pasha was a prominent political leader and statesman in Egypt. He played a significant role in the country's struggle for independence from British rule.
Arish al-Husayni was a Palestinian scholar and religious leader who lived in the 19th century. He was a prominent figure in the Palestinian national movement and advocated for the rights of the Palestinian people.
People
Arish + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arish 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
Arish: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arish?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 307 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arish 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 1,116,464 US residents.
Is Arish a common name?
We classify Arish as "Very Rare". It ranks above 79.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 310 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arish most popular?
The single biggest year for Arish was 2024, when 34 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arish is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arish in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 268 people with the name Arish, or 0.09 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #31,773 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 Arish 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 Arish?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arish leans strongly male. 239 people counted with this name were male (90.5%), compared with 25 female bearers (9.5%). 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 Arish?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arish is Asian/Pacific Islander at 86.9%. The next largest groups are Black (5.6%) and White (3.0%). 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 Arish most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Arish in the 2020 Census, accounting for 86.9% (233 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 Arish in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arish a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arish 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 Arish still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arish 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 Arish 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 share the name Arish?
Want to know how many people share the name Arish? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.