Arlen
Feminine
Arlen is given to both — 809 girls and 7,345 boys since 1880. See Arlen as a boy nameSee other names given to both
Arlen is a surname with an unsettled origin and a literary bearer who invented himself: Michael Arlen, born Dikran Kouyoumdjian in Bulgaria to Armenian parents, took the name and wrote one of the best-selling English novels of the 1920s.
How old is the name Arlen?
Arlen first appears in US birth records in 1918 — 107 years ago. The typical Arlen alive today was born around 2003, making them about 22 years old. About 700 people named Arlen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlen most popular?
Arlen peaked in 1937, reaching #2448 nationally. Today it ranks #5554, 3,106 places below that high. See the whole 1937 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Arlen
Dikran Kouyoumdjian's family fled Bulgaria for Britain, and he wrote as Michael Arlen; The Green Hat, published in 1924, was a sensation and made him briefly one of the most famous writers in the English-speaking world. The songwriter Harold Arlen, born Hyman Arluck, wrote Over the Rainbow and Stormy Weather. As a given name Arlen appears in American records from the 1920s for both sexes, and the girls' peak in 1937 sits in the same period as Arlene, Arline and Arletta, all of which were far commoner; Arlen is the shortest and most unisex of the group.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No settled derivation exists. Irish Ó hArgáin or a place name Arlen have both been proposed for the surname and neither is established. The gloss pledge or oath, widely repeated in name books, is not supported by any source. What can be documented is the surname's use in America and its adoption as a given name for both sexes in the twentieth century.
Pronouncing Arlen
AR-lin
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. There is no ambiguity in speech.
Nicknames for Arlen
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
- 1918
- Most girls named
- 200731 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2448reached in 1937
- Change vs 2024
- +10.0%22 in 2025, from 20
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.
Arlen in other languages
Strongest US states over the last decade: Texas, California.
Arlens among us
people named Arlen are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 73,058 born in 2025 was named Arlen
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Arlen
- #5554
- Arlen on the 2025 chart
- #919
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Arlen went to 22 girls in 2025, but Arleen is the same name said out loud. Together the 2 spellings went to 41, which makes it the 919th most-given girls’ name of the year — 4,635 places above the chart.
- Arlen22
- Arleen19
About 1 girl in 39,202 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 73,058 for Arlen itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Toye test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Arlen's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Toye climbed just as high around 1914, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Toye's path sketches the road Arlen is walking now.
Arlen 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
Arlen beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlen in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can say and spell it after one hearing.
- Arlie and Len both work as short forms.
- Six letters and two syllables keep it compact.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown and the glosses in name books are inventions.
- It is used for both sexes and reads as masculine to many.
- Arlene is far commoner and will be assumed.
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What they receive
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Arlen
Feminine · #5554 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlens are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 700 people named Arlen are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Arlen?
- Arlen is the most-used spelling in US records — 22 of the 41 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Arleen.
- How popular is the name Arlen in 2025?
- Arlen ranks #5554 among US girl names in 2025, with 22 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlen?
- About 1 in every 73,058 US girls born in 2025 was named Arlen — 22 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlen with classmates?
- Arlen will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlen
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Eda#5554 · Phebe#5554 · Felicia#5554 · Audie#5554 · Maryellen#5554 · Warren#5554 · Ruthann#5554 · Nettie#5554
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arlen? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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