Arty
A diminutive of Arthur, an English name meaning noble, courageous.
Name Census estimates that about 126 living Americans carry the first name Arty. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arty today is around 58 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arty births was 1961 (11 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arty. 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 Arty with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
126
~ 1 in 2,720,273 Americans
Peak year
1961
11 babies that year
Average age
58
years old
2021 SSA rank
#8,226
Tracked since 1936
Census
Arty in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 300 people with the first name Arty, which placed it at #29,484 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
#29,484
National first-name rank
People counted
300
300 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
51.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arty
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arty is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.0%) and Black (13.0%). 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 Arty 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 Arty at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White51.7% · 155
- Hispanic or Latino23.0% · 69
- Black or African American13.0% · 39
- Asian and Pacific Islander8.0% · 24
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.3% · 7
- Two or more races2.0% · 6
Popularity
Arty: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arty from the 1930s through to the 2020s, spanning 7 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1960s, with 54 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1960s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arty 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 Arty 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 Arty
The name Arty has its origins in the Armenian language and culture, dating back to the 5th century AD. It is derived from the Armenian word "art," which means "bear." This name was likely given to children in honor of the strength and power associated with the bear.
In ancient Armenian texts and historical records, the name Arty can be found as a variant spelling of the more common name Artak or Artashes. These names were borne by several notable figures in Armenian history, including Artak I, a king of the Artaxiad dynasty who ruled from 189 to 164 BC.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arty can be found in the 7th century AD, when an Armenian prince named Arty Khorkhoruni led a rebellion against the Byzantine Empire. This event is documented in the historical chronicles of the time.
Throughout the Middle Ages, the name Arty remained popular among Armenians, particularly in the regions of modern-day Armenia and eastern Turkey. Several Armenian religious figures and scholars bore this name, including Arty Vanandetsi, a 12th-century author and philosopher.
In the 19th century, the name Arty gained some popularity outside of Armenia, particularly in Russia. Arty Veziryan (1835-1907) was a Russian-Armenian writer and journalist who played a significant role in the Armenian cultural renaissance of the time.
Another notable figure with the name Arty was Arty Semerzian (1907-1983), an Armenian-American artist and sculptor who is best known for his large-scale public works in the United States.
Arty Simonian (1909-1998) was an Armenian-American businessman and philanthropist who made significant contributions to various charitable organizations and educational institutions.
Arty Pekhlevanian (1924-2005) was an Armenian-American author and historian who wrote extensively about the Armenian Genocide and the preservation of Armenian culture and heritage.
Overall, the name Arty has a rich history and cultural significance within the Armenian tradition, with its roots stretching back to ancient times and its usage continuing among Armenians and those of Armenian descent to this day.
People
Arty + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arty 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
Arty: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arty?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 126 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arty 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 2,720,273 US residents.
Is Arty a common name?
We classify Arty as "Very Rare". It ranks above 67.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 158 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arty most popular?
The single biggest year for Arty was 1961, when 11 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arty is about 58 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arty in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 300 people with the name Arty, or 0.10 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #29,484 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 Arty 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 Arty?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arty leans strongly male. 250 people counted with this name were male (85.6%), compared with 42 female bearers (14.4%). 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 Arty?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arty is White at 51.7%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (23.0%) and Black (13.0%). 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 Arty most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arty in the 2020 Census, accounting for 51.7% (155 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 Arty in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arty a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arty 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 Arty still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arty 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 Arty 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 Americans are named Arty?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.