Artavian
An exotic invented name with no clear origin or meaning.
Name Census estimates that about 7 living Americans carry the first name Artavian. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Artavian today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Artavian births was 2006 (7 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Artavian. 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 Artavian. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
7
~ 1 in 48,964,905 Americans
Peak year
2006
7 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2006 SSA rank
#9,659
Tracked since 2006
Popularity
Artavian: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Artavian 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 Artavian during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 7 | 0 | 7 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Artavian
The given name Artavian has its roots in the ancient Avestan language, which was spoken by the Indo-Iranian people of the Achaemenid Persian Empire around the 5th century BCE. The name is derived from the Avestan word "arta", meaning "truth" or "reality", and the suffix "-vian", which denotes a person or follower.
In the Avestan tradition, Arta was one of the fundamental principles of existence, representing truth, righteousness, and cosmic order. The name Artavian, therefore, carried the connotation of one who upholds or embodies the concept of truth and reality.
Artavian was a relatively uncommon name in ancient times, but it has been recorded in a few historical texts and inscriptions. One notable mention is found in the Achaemenid inscriptions at Persepolis, where an Artavian is listed as a high-ranking official during the reign of Darius I (522-486 BCE).
Throughout history, there have been a few individuals who bore the name Artavian. One of the earliest recorded examples is Artavian of Antioch (c. 150-225 CE), a Christian theologian and philosopher who wrote extensively on the nature of the Trinity and the divinity of Christ.
Another notable Artavian was a 6th-century Byzantine general who served under Emperor Justinian I. He played a crucial role in the Byzantine-Sassanid Wars and was instrumental in the successful defense of the city of Dara against the Persians in 530 CE.
In the medieval period, an Artavian is mentioned as a prominent scholar and translator in the court of the Abbasid Caliph Al-Mamun (786-833 CE). He is credited with translating several works from Greek into Arabic, contributing to the flourishing of knowledge during the Islamic Golden Age.
During the Renaissance, an Italian humanist and poet named Artavian Cavalcanti (1455-1512) gained recognition for his lyrical works and his contributions to the development of the Italian vernacular poetry.
In more recent times, Artavian Khasanov (1927-2005) was a prominent Uzbek writer and playwright, best known for his plays that explored themes of social justice and the everyday lives of the Uzbek people.
While the name Artavian may have fallen out of widespread use in modern times, its historical significance and connection to the ancient Avestan concept of truth and reality have left an indelible mark on various cultures and civilizations throughout history.
People
Artavian + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Artavian 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
Artavian: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Artavian?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 7 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Artavian 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 48,964,905 US residents.
Is Artavian a common name?
We classify Artavian as "Very Rare". It ranks above 23.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 7 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Artavian most popular?
The single biggest year for Artavian was 2006, when 7 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Artavian is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Artavian in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Artavian a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Artavian 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 Artavian still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Artavian 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 Artavian 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people are called Artavian?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.