Arles
A French place name of unknown meaning, possibly of Gaulish origin.
Name Census estimates that about 83 living Americans carry the first name Arles. It is a predominantly male name (97.2% of registrations). The average person named Arles today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arles births was 1928 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arles. 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
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Arles. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
83
~ 1 in 4,129,570 Americans
Peak year
1928
12 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,222
Tracked since 1908
Census
Arles in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 403 people with the first name Arles, which placed it at #24,052 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
#24,052
National first-name rank
People counted
403
403 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
61.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arles
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arles is Hispanic at 61.8%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Arles 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 Arles at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino61.8% · 249
- White28.3% · 114
- Black or African American3.2% · 13
- Two or more races3.2% · 13
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 10
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 4
Gender
Gender distribution for Arles
Arles leans heavily male at 97.2% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Arles as a male name
- Ranked #12,447 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2012 (11 births)
Arles as a female name
- Ranked #4,222 in 1928
- 6 female births in 1928
- Peak: 1928 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arles leans strongly male. 355 people counted with this name were male (89.2%), compared with 43 female bearers (10.8%).
Popularity
Arles: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arles from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 9 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1930s, with 59 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1930s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arles 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 Arles 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 Arles
The name Arles originates from the ancient Provençal language, which was spoken in the region of Provence in southern France during the Middle Ages. It is derived from the Latin word "Arelas," which was the name of the city of Arles in Provence.
Arles was an important city in Roman times, and its name is thought to come from the Celtic root "ara," meaning "near the water." The city was founded on the banks of the Rhône River, which was a major transportation route in ancient times.
The name Arles appears in several historical records from the Middle Ages, including chronicles and church documents from the region of Provence. It was a relatively common name among the nobility and upper classes of the region during this period.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Arles is Arles Ier, who was the Count of Provence from 879 to 899 AD. Another notable figure with this name was Arles Ier de Lara, a Spanish nobleman who lived in the 11th century.
In the 12th century, there was a French troubadour named Arles de Vaux, who was known for his lyric poetry. He was active in the court of the Count of Champagne and is considered one of the most important poets of the troubadour tradition.
Another historical figure with the name Arles was Arles de Séméac, who was a French nobleman and military leader during the Hundred Years' War. He fought for the French side against the English and was killed in battle in 1356.
In the 16th century, there was an Italian artist named Arles de la Vigne, who was a painter and sculptor active in Rome and Naples. He is known for his works in the Mannerist style, which was popular in Italy during the Renaissance.
Finally, one of the most famous people with the name Arles was Arles de Fenoyl, a French writer and philosopher who lived in the 17th century. He was a member of the Académie Française and wrote several influential works on ethics and moral philosophy.
People
Arles + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arles 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
Arles: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arles?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 83 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arles 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 4,129,570 US residents.
Is Arles a common name?
We classify Arles as "Very Rare". It ranks above 61.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 216 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arles most popular?
The single biggest year for Arles was 1928, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arles is about 34 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arles in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 403 people with the name Arles, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,052 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 Arles 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 Arles?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arles leans strongly male. 355 people counted with this name were male (89.2%), compared with 43 female bearers (10.8%). 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 Arles?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arles is Hispanic at 61.8%. The next largest groups are White (28.3%) and Black (3.2%). 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 Arles most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arles in the 2020 Census, accounting for 61.8% (249 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 Arles in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arles a male name?
Yes, 97.2% of people registered as Arles 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 Arles still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arles 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 Arles 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 are called Arles?
You can see how many Americans are named Arles on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.