Ardena
Feminine · “from Arden”
Ardena is a feminine of Arden, the English forest name, with an -a added. The same surname was chosen by a Canadian nurse's daughter who built a cosmetics empire.
How old is the name Ardena?
Ardena first appears in US birth records in 1900 — 125 years ago. The typical Ardena alive today was born around 1938, making them about 87 years old. About 200 people named Ardena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Ardena most popular?
Ardena peaked in 1900, reaching #1231 nationally. See the whole 1900 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Arden to Ardena
The story of Ardena
Florence Nightingale Graham, a farmer's daughter from Ontario, opened a beauty salon on Fifth Avenue and needed a name for it. She is said to have taken Arden from Tennyson's poem Enoch Arden and paired it with Elizabeth, and as Elizabeth Arden she built one of the great cosmetics houses. American families made Ardena from the same surname, adding an -a for a daughter, and nothing more is recorded about the form.
Meaningscholars disagree
from Arden, an English forest and surname
Arden is an English place and surname from the Forest of Arden in Warwickshire, whose own name is old and of uncertain meaning. Ardena adds a feminine ending.
How the name formed
- Arden
- Ardena
Pronouncing Ardena
ar-DEE-nuh
Stress on the middle syllable.
Nicknames for Ardena
Moderate
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1900
- Most girls named
- 191920 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1231reached in 1900
- Change vs 1977
- +16.7%7 in 1982, from 6
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Ardenas among us
people named Ardena are estimated to be alive in the US today
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
Questions parents actually ask
Fashion outlook
Ardena sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It connects to a real English place and a famous founder.
- Dena and Ardie give two short forms.
- People will write Ardina or Arden.
- Many will think of the cosmetics brand.
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Ardena
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Ardenas are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Ardena are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Ardena in 2025?
- Ardena is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Ardena with classmates?
- Ardena will almost certainly be the only one in school.
More A names
The most-given names starting with A, all years combined.
Anna#107 · Ashley#164 · Amanda#493 · Amy#257 · Angela#408 · Alice#65 · Ann#1076 · Andrea#235
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Ardena? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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