Arly
A French variant of the masculine name Arley or a feminine diminutive of Arlette.
Name Census estimates that about 852 living Americans carry the first name Arly. It is a predominantly female name (92.3% of registrations). The average person named Arly today is around 21 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arly births was 2003 (253 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arly. 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 Arly with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
852
~ 1 in 402,294 Americans
Peak year
2003
253 babies that year
Average age
21
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,176
Tracked since 1925
Census
Arly in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,020 people with the first name Arly, which placed it at #12,257 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
#12,257
National first-name rank
People counted
1.0K
1,020 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
73.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arly
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arly is Hispanic at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.5%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Arly 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 Arly at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino73.5% · 750
- White15.5% · 158
- Black or African American6.9% · 70
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.8% · 29
- Two or more races0.8% · 8
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 5
Gender
Gender distribution for Arly
Arly leans heavily female at 92.3% of total registrations, but 67 boys have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Arly as a male name
- Ranked #12,450 in 2024
- 5 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2007 (10 births)
Arly as a female name
- Ranked #11,176 in 2024
- 8 female births in 2024
- Peak: 2003 (246 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arly leans strongly female. 813 people counted with this name were female (80.1%), compared with 202 male bearers (19.9%).
Popularity
Arly: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arly from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 546 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arly 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 Arly during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arlys live
The SSA's state-level files cover 12 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Arly, while Nevada, Indiana, North Carolina recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 36 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arly
The name Arly is a diminutive form of the name Arlo, which itself is a variation of the name Arlie. The name Arlie has its origins in the Old English language, deriving from the words "ærn" meaning "eagle" and "leah" meaning "meadow" or "clearing". It was a name given to children born or raised in a meadow or clearing where eagles were frequently spotted.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Arlie dates back to the 9th century in the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, where it was mentioned as the name of a young boy from the village of Earningwold in present-day Yorkshire, England. The name gained popularity among the Anglo-Saxon nobility during the Middle Ages.
In the 12th century, a notable figure named Arlie of Pembroke was a Welsh nobleman and military leader who played a significant role in the conflicts between the Welsh and the Normans. He was renowned for his bravery and tactical skills on the battlefield.
During the Renaissance period, the name Arlie was associated with the Italian artist and architect Arlie Fiore, born in 1460 in Florence. He was known for his intricate architectural designs and his contributions to the development of the Renaissance style.
In the 18th century, Arlie Macdonald was a Scottish poet and playwright whose works were widely acclaimed for their wit and social commentary. She was born in 1720 in Edinburgh and was a prominent figure in the Scottish literary circles of her time.
Another notable figure was Arlie Neville, an English botanist and explorer born in 1785. He traveled extensively throughout the British colonies, documenting and cataloging various plant species. His work contributed significantly to the advancement of botanical knowledge during the 19th century.
While the name Arly itself is a more recent diminutive form, it carries the same linguistic roots and historical significance as its parent name, Arlie. The name evokes a sense of connection with nature, particularly with the majestic eagle and the serene meadows of its origin.
People
Arly + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arly 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
Arly: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arly?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 852 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arly 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 402,294 US residents.
Is Arly a common name?
We classify Arly as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 872 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arly most popular?
The single biggest year for Arly was 2003, when 253 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arly is about 21 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arly in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,020 people with the name Arly, or 0.34 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,257 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 Arly 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 Arly?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arly leans strongly female. 813 people counted with this name were female (80.1%), compared with 202 male bearers (19.9%). 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 Arly?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arly is Hispanic at 73.5%. The next largest groups are White (15.5%) and Black (6.9%). 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 Arly most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arly in the 2020 Census, accounting for 73.5% (750 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 Arly in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arly a female name?
Yes, 92.3% of people registered as Arly 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 Arly still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arly 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 Arly 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 Arly?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.