Arnol
A masculine name of German origin meaning "eagle power".
Name Census estimates that about 121 living Americans carry the first name Arnol. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arnol today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arnol births was 2003 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arnol. 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
121
~ 1 in 2,832,680 Americans
Peak year
2003
10 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2023 SSA rank
#9,828
Tracked since 1924
Census
Arnol in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 428 people with the first name Arnol, which placed it at #23,034 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
#23,034
National first-name rank
People counted
428
428 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Hispanic or Latino
79.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arnol
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnol is Hispanic at 79.7%. The next largest groups are White (12.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Arnol 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 Arnol at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Hispanic or Latino79.7% · 341
- White12.6% · 54
- Asian and Pacific Islander4.0% · 17
- Black or African American3.0% · 13
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.5% · 2
- Two or more races0.2% · 1
Popularity
Arnol: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arnol from the 1920s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 46 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Arnol remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arnol 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 Arnol 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 Arnol
The given name Arnol has its origins in the Germanic languages, particularly in Old Norse and Old German. It is believed to have emerged around the 6th century AD, during the migration period of Germanic tribes across Europe.
The name is thought to be derived from the combination of two Old Norse words, "arn" meaning "eagle" and "wald" meaning "ruler" or "leader." Thus, Arnol can be interpreted as "the ruler as strong as an eagle" or "the leader with the strength of an eagle."
In the early medieval period, the name Arnol was popular among the Frankish and Visigothic nobility. One of the earliest recorded instances of the name can be found in the Codex Diplomaticus Cavensis, a collection of medieval charters from the Campania region of Italy, dating back to the 8th century.
The name gained widespread recognition and popularity during the Carolingian Renaissance of the 9th century. One of the most notable figures bearing the name was Arnol of Saxony (c. 790 - 853), a Benedictine monk and scholar who played a significant role in the educational reforms undertaken by Charlemagne.
Another prominent individual with the name Arnol was Arnol of Cîteaux (c. 1030 - 1156), a French monk and the fourth abbot of the Cistercian monastery of Cîteaux. He was instrumental in the expansion of the Cistercian order throughout Europe during the 12th century.
In the late medieval period, the name Arnol was particularly popular in the Low Countries and Germany. One notable example is Arnol of Ghent (c. 1300 - 1366), a Flemish philosopher and theologian who taught at the University of Paris and was known for his scholastic writings.
During the Renaissance, the name remained in use, although it was less common. One notable figure was Arnol von Bruck (c. 1500 - 1554), a German mathematician and astronomer who made significant contributions to the development of spherical trigonometry.
Throughout history, the name Arnol has been associated with individuals who demonstrated strength, leadership, and scholarly pursuits. While its usage has diminished in modern times, it continues to carry the legacy of its Germanic roots and the historical figures who bore this name.
People
Arnol + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arnol 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
Arnol: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arnol?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 121 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arnol 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 2,832,680 US residents.
Is Arnol a common name?
We classify Arnol as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 134 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arnol most popular?
The single biggest year for Arnol was 2003, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arnol is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arnol in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 428 people with the name Arnol, or 0.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #23,034 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 Arnol 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 Arnol?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arnol leans strongly male. 420 people counted with this name were male (98.8%), compared with 5 female bearers (1.2%). 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 Arnol?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arnol is Hispanic at 79.7%. The next largest groups are White (12.6%) and Asian/Pacific Islander (4.0%). 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 Arnol most often in the Census?
Hispanic is the largest reported group for people named Arnol in the 2020 Census, accounting for 79.7% (341 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 Arnol in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arnol a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arnol 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 Arnol still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arnol 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 Arnol 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 named Arnol?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.