Arnelle
A feminine name of uncertain origin, potentially relating to the eagle.
Name Census estimates that about 149 living Americans carry the first name Arnelle. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arnelle today is around 34 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arnelle births was 1995 (51 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arnelle. 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 Arnelle with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
149
~ 1 in 2,300,365 Americans
Peak year
1995
51 babies that year
Average age
34
years old
2001 SSA rank
#12,217
Tracked since 1948
Census
Arnelle in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 294 people with the first name Arnelle, which placed it at #29,893 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
#29,893
National first-name rank
People counted
294
294 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
66.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arnelle
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnelle is Black at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Arnelle 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 Arnelle at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American66.0% · 194
- White18.0% · 53
- Asian and Pacific Islander6.1% · 18
- Hispanic or Latino4.1% · 12
- Two or more races3.1% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.7% · 8
Popularity
Arnelle: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arnelle from the 1940s through to the 2000s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 126 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arnelle 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 Arnelle during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arnelles live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New York, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Arnelle, while New Jersey, California, New York recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 14 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arnelle
The name Arnelle has its origins in the French language and culture, emerging during the Middle Ages. Its roots can be traced back to the Old French word "arnault," derived from the Germanic name "Arnwald," which itself is a compound of the elements "arn" (meaning eagle) and "wald" (meaning ruler or power).
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arnelle can be found in the 12th-century epic poem "La Chanson de Roland," where it appears as a male name. This literary work, which recounts the exploits of the legendary knight Roland, played a significant role in preserving and disseminating the name throughout medieval Europe.
During the Middle Ages, the name Arnelle was predominantly associated with noble and aristocratic families in France. Notable historical figures bearing this name include Arnelle de Trie, a 13th-century French noblewoman and the daughter of Raoul de Trie, a prominent military leader during the reign of King Louis IX.
In the 14th century, Arnelle de Garlande, a French knight and courtier, gained recognition for his service to King Charles VI. His exploits and loyalty were chronicled in several contemporary accounts, further contributing to the name's prestige.
As the centuries passed, the name Arnelle transcended its French origins and gained popularity in other parts of Europe. In the 16th century, Arnelle von Buren, a German merchant and diplomat, rose to prominence for his role in facilitating trade relations between the Holy Roman Empire and the Netherlands.
Another notable figure was Arnelle Desiderio, an Italian painter and sculptor active in the 17th century. His artistic contributions, particularly in the field of religious art, earned him a place in the annals of Renaissance art history.
While the name Arnelle has experienced varying levels of popularity throughout different eras and regions, it continues to evoke a sense of historical significance and cultural richness, reflecting its deep-rooted origins in the medieval French tradition.
People
Arnelle + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arnelle 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
Arnelle: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arnelle?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 149 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arnelle 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 2,300,365 US residents.
Is Arnelle a common name?
We classify Arnelle as "Very Rare". It ranks above 70.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 161 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arnelle most popular?
The single biggest year for Arnelle was 1995, when 51 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arnelle 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 Arnelle in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 294 people with the name Arnelle, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,893 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 Arnelle 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 Arnelle?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arnelle leans strongly female. 263 people counted with this name were female (90.4%), compared with 28 male bearers (9.6%). 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 Arnelle?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnelle is Black at 66.0%. The next largest groups are White (18.0%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (6.1%). 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 Arnelle most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Arnelle in the 2020 Census, accounting for 66.0% (194 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 Arnelle in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arnelle a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arnelle 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 Arnelle still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arnelle 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 Arnelle 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 Arnelle?
You can see how many people have the name Arnelle on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.