Arlene
Feminine
Arlene is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 143,010 girls against 361 boys since 1880.
Arlene belongs to the -ene family, the most productive American naming pattern of the early twentieth century: a familiar stem, a fashionable ending, and no etymology required.
How old is the name Arlene?
Arlene first appears in US birth records in 1888 — 137 years ago. The typical Arlene alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 72,000 people named Arlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlene most popular?
Arlene peaked in 1934, reaching #53 nationally. Today it ranks #1631, 1,578 places below that high. See the whole 1934 chart.
Arlene appears on these lists:
Where it comes from
From Arline to Arlene
The story of Arlene
American naming of the early twentieth century made extensive use of a small set of endings applied to familiar stems, and -ene was among the most productive: Charlene, Darlene, Marlene, Earlene, Arlene. Arline had arrived first, from a hugely successful 1843 opera, and Arlene followed as its respelling. The name rose sharply through the 1920s and stood in the American top forty for girls by 1934.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No settled origin. It is most often read as a feminine of Arlen, an Irish surname of unrecovered meaning, or as a variant of Arline, which an 1843 opera coined. It may equally be a straightforward American construction on the Ar- and -ene elements. Attempts to derive it from a Celtic word meaning 'pledge' are reconstructions after the fact.
How the name formed
- Arline
- Arlene
Related forms: Arline · Arleen · Arlette
Pronouncing Arlene
ar-LEEN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Arlene, Arline and Arleen are said identically.
Nicknames for Arlene
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
- 1888
- Most girls named
- 19363,898 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #53reached in 1934
- Change vs 2022
- +6.7%127 in 2025, from 119
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.
Arlene in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arline in English — spelling variant
- Arleen in English — spelling variant
- Arlette in French — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Arlenes among us
people named Arlene are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 girl in 12,656 born in 2025 was named Arlene
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Anne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Arlene's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Anne climbed just as high around 1915, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Anne's path sketches the road Arlene is walking now.
Arlene 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 Arlene is headed
Arlene 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.
Arlene beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlene in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US girls given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- The end stress gives it a distinct rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- It belongs to a coherent and well-documented family of American names.
- Arlie and Lena are two short forms at very different registers.
- It has no inherited meaning, which matters to families for whom that is the point.
- Three spellings are in use and none is dominant.
- It is firmly period-coded to the first half of the twentieth century.
Nobody names a baby alone.
Put Arlene to the vote.
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What they receive
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Arlene
Feminine · #1631 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlenes are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 72,000 people named Arlene are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arlene in 2025?
- Arlene ranks #1631 among US girl names in 2025, with 127 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlene?
- About 1 in every 12,656 US girls born in 2025 was named Arlene — 127 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlene with classmates?
- Arlene will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlene
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Brisa#1631 · Irina#1631 · Itzayana#1631 · Danica#1631 · Yael#1631 · Mika#1631 · Elanor#1631 · Kenley#1631
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arlene? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arlene and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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