Find out how popular the last name Arline is in the United States and learn more about the meaning, history, and race and ethnic origin of people in America who are named Arline.

Arline, like all of the last names we have data for, is identified by the U.S. Census Bureau as a surname which has more than 100 occurrences in the United States in the Decennial Census survey. The most recent statistics we have for the Arline surname is from the 2010 census data.

Popularity of Arline in America

Arline is the 17300th most popular name in America based on the data we have collected from the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Arline surname appeared 1,636 times in the 2010 census and if you were to sample 100,000 people in the United States, approximately 1 people would have the surname Arline.

We can also compare 2010 data for Arline to data from the previous census in 2000. The table below contains all of the statistics for both years in a side-by-side comparison.

The history of the last name Arline

The surname Arline is believed to have originated in the Scottish Highlands, where it first appeared in the late 14th century. It is thought to be a variant of the Scottish surname Airloch, derived from the Gaelic words "àir" meaning "slaughter" and "loch" meaning "lake or inlet", possibly referring to a place where a battle or skirmish took place near a body of water.

One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arline can be found in the Exchequer Rolls of Scotland from 1396, which mention a person named Williame Arlyne. This suggests that the spelling had already evolved from the original Airloch by that time.

In the 16th century, the Arline family is believed to have settled in the coastal region of Aberdeenshire, where the name appears in several parish records from that period. The earliest known bearer of the name was Johne Arline, who was born in the village of Peterhead in 1547.

During the Scottish Reformation in the late 16th century, a prominent figure named David Arline played a role as a Protestant minister and scholar. He was born in Aberdeen in 1564 and wrote several influential works on theology and church governance.

In the 17th century, the Arline surname spread to other parts of Scotland and even to England, where it is recorded in the parish records of several counties. One notable bearer of the name was Robert Arline, a merchant and ship owner from Glasgow who was born in 1632 and became wealthy through trade with the American colonies.

Another historical figure with the surname Arline was Isobel Arline, who was born in Edinburgh in 1692 and is notable for being one of the first female writers in Scotland to publish her work. Her collection of poetry, titled "The Muse's Offering", was published in 1720 and received critical acclaim.

As the Arline family dispersed throughout the British Isles and beyond, the surname underwent various spelling variations, including Arlyn, Arlyne, and Arlene. Despite its Scottish origins, the name has also been adopted by families in other parts of the world, particularly in North America and Australia, where it has been borne by individuals of diverse ethnic backgrounds.

Race and ethnic origin of people with the last name Arline

We also have some data on the ancestry of people with the surname Arline.

The below race categories are the modified race categories used in the Census Bureau's population estimates program. All people were categorized into six mutually exclusive racial and Hispanic origin groups:

1. White only
2. Black only
3. American Indian and Alaskan Native only
4. Asian and Pacific Islander only
5. Hispanic
6. Two or More Races

For the most recent 2010 census data, the race/ethnic origin breakdown for Arline was:

Note: Any fields showing (S) means the data was suppressed for privacy so that the data does not in any way identify any specific individuals.

Since we have data from the previous census in 2000, we can also compare the values to see how the popularity of Arline has changed in the 10 years between the two census surveys.

Data source

The last name data and ethnic breakdown of last names is sourced directly from the Decennial Census survey, conducted every 10 years by the United States Census Bureau.

The history and meaning of the name Arline was researched and written by our team of onomatology and genealogy experts.

If you have a correction or suggestion to improve the history of Arline, please contact us.

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