How rare is the name Arlen?

5,836 people in the United States have the first name Arlen, about 1 in 51,753. It ranks #3,541 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ARLEN

#3,541

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
5,836
About
1 in 51,753
This common or more
82.6%
Who bears it

Of the 5,836 people named Arlen, 66.4% reported their origin as White, 22.1% as Hispanic or Latino and 3.4% as Black. 78.9% are male. These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Arlen peaked in 1934, when 215 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
19092025
Peak year
1934
Births that year
215
In 2025*
129 ▼40%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 8,154 babies have been given the name since 1909. Years SSA withheld, because fewer than 5 were born, are skipped rather than drawn as zero. * 2025 is the newest year published and it undercounts: a card application is filed some time after a birth.

Arlen by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1930s, when it ranked #913. The largest share of babies named Arlen, 30.1%, were born between 1928 and 1945, the Silent Generation's birth years.

1900s#4,9315
1910s#3,874111
1920s#2,225404
1930s#9131,713
1940s#1,418973
1950s#1,5101,237
1960s#2,327609
1970s#3,602363
1980s#3,854420
1990s#4,597447
2000s#5,181530
2010s#4,563679
2020s#3,326663
Greatest Generation 1901–274.4%
Silent Generation 1928–4530.1%
Baby boom 1946–6424.5%
Generation X 1965–808%
Millennials 1981–968.4%
Generation Z 1997–1210.2%
2013 and later14.5%

Rank counts both sexes together, among every name SSA recorded that decade; the number under it is births. The 2020s run only to 2025. Generation years follow Pew Research Center, which has not named a generation after 2012.

Where Arlen is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Arlen has been most common in North Dakota (15×), South Dakota (8.8×), and Minnesota (7.4×), and least common in New York (0.22×).

3,224 births recorded by state, 1910–2025. 2× means twice as common as nationally. States with fewer than 30 such births are left blank, and SSA withholds any year with fewer than 5 in a state, so small states read low.

Either side of Arlen

#3,539 Ligia · 5,840#3,540 Terese · 5,838#3,542 Whitley · 5,835#3,543 Malgorzata · 5,832

Spelled almost the same

8 first names in the 2020 Census spelled within a letter or two of Arlen, most common first.

#618 Arlene · 85,381#2,719 Arleen · 8,620#4,900 Arlyn · 3,651#5,127 Arlin · 3,418#7,289 Arlan · 2,107#9,402 Arlena · 1,478#15,445 Arlon · 745#16,909 Arlean · 660

Also a last name

As a last name, Arlen ranks #38,716 of 156,621, with 615 people. See Arlen as a last name

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