Arlenne
Name of uncertain origin, potentially a diminutive of Arlen or Arlene.
Name Census estimates that about 168 living Americans carry the first name Arlenne. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arlenne today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arlenne births was 2013 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arlenne. 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.
People living today
168
~ 1 in 2,040,204 Americans
Peak year
2013
15 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2023 SSA rank
#13,635
Tracked since 1990
Census
Arlenne in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 230 people with the first name Arlenne, which placed it at #35,134 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
#35,134
National first-name rank
People counted
230
230 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
90.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arlenne
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arlenne is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Arlenne 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 Arlenne at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino90.4% · 208
- White7.0% · 16
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.3% · 3
- Black or African American0.9% · 2
- Two or more races0.4% · 1
Popularity
Arlenne: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arlenne from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 70 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
Arlenne 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 Arlenne during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arlennes live
Origin
Meaning and history of Arlenne
The name Arlenne is believed to have originated from the French language, derived from the Roman name Arles, which was a city in southern France. The name Arles itself is thought to have roots in the Celtic word "ar" meaning "near" and "lenn" meaning "marsh" or "swamp", suggesting the city's location near a marshy area.
The earliest known use of the name Arlenne can be traced back to the late Middle Ages, around the 14th or 15th century. During this period, French culture and language had a significant influence on various regions of Europe, contributing to the spread and adoption of names like Arlenne.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Arlenne was Arlenne de Montpellier, a French noblewoman born in the late 15th century. She was known for her patronage of the arts and her support for local artisans in the city of Montpellier.
Another notable figure bearing the name Arlenne was Arlenne Dupont (1564-1628), a French sculptor and woodcarver. Her intricate woodcarvings adorned several churches and cathedrals in Paris and the surrounding regions, showcasing her exceptional craftsmanship.
In the 18th century, Arlenne Lefebvre (1722-1798) was a prominent French botanist who made significant contributions to the study of plant life. Her extensive research and detailed illustrations of various plant species earned her recognition among the scientific community of her time.
Moving into the 19th century, Arlenne Duval (1832-1897) was a French novelist and poet. Her works often explored themes of love, loss, and the complexities of human relationships, reflecting the romantic literary movement of that era.
Lastly, Arlenne Desrosiers (1900-1976) was a Canadian painter and sculptor known for her vibrant and expressive artwork. Her works, which often depicted scenes of everyday life and the natural world, are celebrated as important examples of modern Canadian art.
While the name Arlenne has its roots in French culture and history, it has since been adopted and used across various cultures and regions, with individuals bearing this name leaving their mark in various fields throughout the centuries.
People
Arlenne + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arlenne 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
Arlenne: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arlenne?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 168 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arlenne 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 2,040,204 US residents.
Is Arlenne a common name?
We classify Arlenne as "Very Rare". It ranks above 71.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 171 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arlenne most popular?
The single biggest year for Arlenne was 2013, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arlenne is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arlenne in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 230 people with the name Arlenne, or 0.08 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #35,134 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 Arlenne 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 Arlenne?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arlenne leans strongly female. 227 people counted with this name were female (98.7%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.3%). 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 Arlenne?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arlenne is Hispanic at 90.4%. The next largest groups are White (7.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (1.3%). 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 Arlenne most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arlenne in the 2020 Census, accounting for 90.4% (208 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 Arlenne in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arlenne a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arlenne 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 Arlenne still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arlenne 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 Arlenne 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 Arlenne?
You can see how many people have the name Arlenne on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.