Arlee
Feminine
Arlee is given to both — 1,267 girls and 435 boys since 1880. See other names given to both
Arlee is a spelling of Arley and Arlie, and the family it belongs to has no established ancestor — it appears in American records around 1900 without one.
How old is the name Arlee?
Arlee first appears in US birth records in 1907 — 118 years ago. The typical Arlee alive today was born around 1982, making them about 43 years old. About 800 people named Arlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlee most popular?
Arlee peaked in 1908, reaching #1439 nationally. Today it ranks #4172, 2,733 places below that high. See the whole 1908 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Arlee
Ours, offered as ours. Around 1900 American records fill with a cluster of short names ending in -ee and -ie that have no ancestors anybody can find — Arlee, Ollie, Vernie, Clemmie, Effie. Some are clipped from longer names and some seem simply to have been made. That whole generation of naming has been under-documented because the names were small and rural and nobody wrote about them, and Arlee is one of its products.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source is established. An English place name Arley, from a word for an eagle and leah, a clearing, is one possibility; Arlene, itself of unknown origin, is another. Neither is documented for this spelling.
Pronouncing Arlee
AR-lee
Two syllables, first stressed. There is no variation in English.
Nicknames for Arlee
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
- 1907
- Most girls named
- 202348 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1439reached in 1908
- Change vs 2023
- −29.2%34 in 2025, from 48
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.
Arlee in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arley in English — spelling variant
- Arlie in English — spelling variant
Arlees among us
people named Arlee are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 47,273 born in 2025 was named Arlee
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
Fashion outlook
Arlee sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Arlee is headed
Arlee should hold steady through 2030 — the curve is flat, and flat curves are the most predictable kind.
Medium confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Arlee beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlee in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Five letters and two syllables, quick to write.
- Lee is a plain short form that works at any age.
- Read correctly on sight by every English speaker.
- Arlee, Arley and Arlie are all in use and none is dominant.
- It is used for both sexes, so forms may guess wrong.
- There is no documented meaning.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
Someone added a name to your list
Arlee
Feminine · #4172 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlees are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 800 people named Arlee are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arlee in 2025?
- Arlee ranks #4172 among US girl names in 2025, with 34 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlee?
- About 1 in every 47,273 US girls born in 2025 was named Arlee — 34 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlee with classmates?
- Arlee will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlee
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Roseanna#4172 · Elida#4172 · Neila#4172 · Savina#4172 · Kendyl#4172 · Zakiya#4172 · Naisha#4172 · Ethel#4172
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arlee? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arlee and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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