ninan.org

Arthur

Boys' name · Early 20th-century revival perennial

Living in the US
~215,700 survival-weighted estimate
2025 rank
#87 among boys
Births in 2025
3,847 551,930 since 1880
Typical age
63 years, median

Arthur popularity over time

Arthur rank by birth year, 1880–2025Arthur ranked #14 in 1880 and #87 in 2025. Its best rank in the period was #14, in 1880.#100#87best #14 in 188018901920195019802010
Rank among US baby names by birth year, 1880–2025. Lower is more popular; the scale is logarithmic so the top of the chart is not compressed.

1921 is the peak year for Arthur, with 10,579 births. It is present from 1880, the first year of the record. Arthur has spent 91 years inside the national top 100.

In 2025 it ranked #87 with 3,847 births. Over ten years the count has risen 3.1×. It climbed 18 places against the previous year.

Babies named Arthur per yearPeaks at 10,579 births in 1921.10,579 in 1921018901920195019802010
Recorded US births by year. The peak is labelled; the axis starts at zero.

How many people are named Arthur?

An estimated 215,700 living Americans are called Arthur. SSA has recorded 551,930 births under the name since 1880.

This is a survival-weighted estimate, not a headcount: every recorded birth year is multiplied by the chance someone born that year is still alive, using the SSA period life table. How the estimate works.

How old is the average Arthur?

Half of living Arthurs are older than 63, half younger. More of them were born in the 1950s than in any other decade. By the site’s era rules that makes Arthur a early 20th-century revival perennial name.

Your Arthur

Ages of living people named ArthurHalf of living Arthurs are older than 63 and half younger.median 63020406080100
Estimated living bearers by age today. Each bar is a birth year, weighted by the chance someone born then is still alive.

Where Arthur is most common

District of Columbia uses the name 3.6× as often as the country as a whole. Vermont, Alaska and Maine follow.

Where Arthur is used more than average5 states use the name Arthur more than the national average.Alaska: 2.9× the national rateAKMaine: 2.5× the national rateMEVermont: 3.1× the national rateVTNew Hampshire: not over-representedNHWashington: not over-representedWAIdaho: not over-representedIDMontana: 2.5× the national rateMTNorth Dakota: not over-representedNDMinnesota: not over-representedMNIllinois: not over-representedILWisconsin: not over-representedWIMichigan: not over-representedMINew York: not over-representedNYOregon: not over-representedORNevada: not over-representedNVWyoming: not over-representedWYSouth Dakota: not over-representedSDIowa: not over-representedIAIndiana: not over-representedINOhio: not over-representedOHPennsylvania: not over-representedPANew Jersey: not over-representedNJConnecticut: not over-representedCTRhode Island: not over-representedRICalifornia: not over-representedCAUtah: not over-representedUTColorado: not over-representedCONebraska: not over-representedNEMissouri: not over-representedMOKentucky: not over-representedKYWest Virginia: not over-representedWVVirginia: not over-representedVAMaryland: not over-representedMDDelaware: not over-representedDEMassachusetts: not over-representedMAArizona: not over-representedAZNew Mexico: not over-representedNMKansas: not over-representedKSArkansas: not over-representedARTennessee: not over-representedTNNorth Carolina: not over-representedNCSouth Carolina: not over-representedSCDistrict of Columbia: 3.6× the national rateDCOklahoma: not over-representedOKLouisiana: not over-representedLAMississippi: not over-representedMSAlabama: not over-representedALGeorgia: not over-representedGAHawaii: not over-representedHITexas: not over-representedTXFlorida: not over-representedFL
Same as national3× or more
Location quotient, 2016–2025. Shaded states use the name more than the country does, relative to their own births. Exact figures are in the table below.
States where Arthur is over-represented, 2016–2025. The location quotient compares the state's share of the name with the national share.
StateBirthsvs national rate
District of Columbia 160 3.6×
Vermont 52 3.1×
Alaska 93 2.9×
Maine 126 2.5×
Montana 108 2.5×

Arthur in England and Wales

In England and Wales, Arthur ranked #5 in 2025 on 3,211 births. That is 21% lower than five years earlier.

Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Counts below three are suppressed by ONS.

Where the name Arthur comes from

From the name of the legendary king, from Middle English Arthure, from Medieval Latin Arthurus, probably from Middle Welsh arth (“bear”).

Etymology summarised from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0. Wiktionary entry.

Notable people named Arthur

Ordered by how many Wikipedia language editions have an article about them — a measure of reach, not of importance.
NameKnown forYearsEditions
Arthur Conan Doyle British writer and physician 1859–1930 183
Arthur Schopenhauer German philosopher 1788–1860 175
Arthur Rimbaud French poet 1854–1891 142
Arthur C. Clarke British science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist 1917–2008 128
Arthur Miller American playwright and essayist 1915–2005 114
Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington British Field Marshal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1828–1830, 1834 1769–1852 102
Arthur Balfour British Prime Minister, Conservative politician, and statesman 1848–1930 90
Arthur Compton American physicist 1892–1962 89
Photo credits (8)

The sharpest rise. Births under this name jumped from 2,389 in 1911 to 4,707 in 1912 — 2.0 times over in a single year.

Birth records contain the rise and nothing about its cause. This site does not supply one.

People and dates from Wikidata (CC0), limited to those with an English Wikipedia article who are known by this name as their first name.

Related pages

Get this data

Every number on this page is available as JSON: /api/name/arthur.json. Free to use with attribution (CC BY 4.0).