Arlie
Masculine
Arlie is given to both — 6,712 boys and 2,585 girls since 1880. See Arlie as a girl nameSee other names given to both
Arlie is one of the small American names of the years around 1900 that resists tracing. It sits with Early, Arley and Orlie, and no source can say which of them came first or where any of them came from.
How old is the name Arlie?
Arlie was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Arlie alive today was born around 1934, making them about 91 years old. About 2,100 people named Arlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlie most popular?
Arlie peaked in 1904, reaching #368 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 5,240 places below that high. See the whole 1904 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Arlie
The American South and lower Midwest of the 1890s produced a set of men's names that the reference books cannot account for: Arlie, Ottis, Orval, Ova, Doss, Coy, Hershel, Dewey. Some are surnames, some are respellings, and some appear to have been made locally out of familiar sounds and passed along within a region. What they share is a narrow window — most peak between 1890 and 1920 — and a distribution concentrated in a few states rather than spread nationally. Arlie belongs to that group and peaks in 1904. It was also used for girls in the same period, which is characteristic of the -ie ending before it drifted feminine.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source establishes an etymology. Arlie appears in American records from the late nineteenth century alongside Arley, Early and Orley, and is variously explained as a form of the English surname Arley, from an English place name meaning eagle wood, as a variant of Early, and as an independent formation. None is documented. The -ie ending is the American affectionate suffix and carries no meaning.
Pronouncing Arlie
AR-lee
Two syllables, stress on the first. There is no ambiguity, and everyone reads it correctly on sight.
Nicknames for Arlie
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
- 1880
- Most boys named
- 1916152 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #368reached in 1904
- Change vs 2022
- +77.8%16 in 2025, from 9
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.
Arlies among us
people named Arlie are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Arlie
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
Arlie 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
Arlie beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlie in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Everyone can say and spell it after one hearing.
- Five letters and two syllables keep it compact.
- It has a genuine American regional history rather than an invented one.
- The meaning is genuinely unknown.
- It was used for both sexes and the -ie ending now reads feminine.
- It is strongly dated to the years around 1900.
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What they receive
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Arlie
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlies are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 2,100 people named Arlie are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arlie in 2025?
- Arlie ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlie?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Arlie — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlie with classmates?
- Arlie will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlie
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Berl#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arlie? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arlie and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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