How common is the name Arthur?

205,844 people in the United States have the first name Arthur, about 1 in 1,467. It ranks #270 of 53,615 first names in the 2020 Census.

first name

ARTHUR

#270

of 53,615 first names recorded in the 2020 Census

People
205,844
About
1 in 1,467
This common or more
47.1%
Who bears it

Of the 205,844 people named Arthur, 67.2% reported their origin as White, 16.6% as Black and 9.8% as Hispanic or Latino. Virtually all are male (99.8%). These count how people described themselves on the 2020 Census, not where the name comes from.

Arthur peaked in 1921, when 10,579 babies got the name.

Births per year, SSA records 1880–2025
18802025
Peak year
1921
Births that year
10,579
In 2025*
3,847 ▼64%
Recorded as
almost entirely male

At least 551,930 babies have been given the name since 1880. 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.

Arthur by decade

Among all names given to American babies, its best decade was the 1880s, when it ranked #26. The largest share of babies named Arthur, 29.3%, were born between 1901 and 1927, the Greatest Generation's birth years.

1880s#2616,246
1890s#5016,431
1900s#6515,505
1910s#3767,812
1920s#3897,818
1930s#6068,275
1940s#7374,329
1950s#12366,028
1960s#19539,910
1970s#26822,303
1980s#33216,951
1990s#49211,822
2000s#7348,342
2010s#54412,632
2020s#21617,526
Before 19016.3%
Greatest Generation 1901–2729.3%
Silent Generation 1928–4523.4%
Baby boom 1946–6421.7%
Generation X 1965–807.4%
Millennials 1981–964.4%
Generation Z 1997–122.5%
2013 and later5%

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 Arthur is most common

Compared with all babies born in each state since 1910, Arthur has been most common in Rhode Island (2.3×), Massachusetts (2.1×), and Maine (2×), and least common in Nevada (0.4×).

500,021 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 Arthur

#268 Connor · 208,374#269 April · 206,083#271 Russell · 202,735#272 Sheila · 202,159

Spelled almost the same

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

#3,659 Artur · 5,571#13,975 Arther · 852#24,497 Arthuro · 393#35,546 Arthor · 226#47,514 Artour · 137

Also a last name

As a last name, Arthur ranks #1,264 of 156,621, with 27,204 people. See Arthur as a last name

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