Arline
Feminine
Arline is overwhelmingly a girls’ name — 17,590 girls against 36 boys since 1880.
Arline came out of an opera. A hugely successful 1843 English work gave its heroine the name, and it appears in the registers immediately afterwards — one of the few names whose arrival can be dated to a single opening night.
How old is the name Arline?
Arline first appears in US birth records in 1883 — 142 years ago. The typical Arline alive today was born around 1927, making them about 98 years old. About 4,100 people named Arline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arline most popular?
Arline peaked in 1936, reaching #248 nationally. See the whole 1936 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Arline
The Bohemian Girl opened in London in 1843 and was one of the most performed English operas of the nineteenth century, played across Britain, America and Australia for decades; its heroine is Arline, a nobleman's daughter raised by travelers. The name enters English-speaking registers in its wake and rose steadily through the following century, peaking in America around 1929 alongside the related Arlene.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No inherited meaning. The librettist appears to have invented it, possibly on the pattern of Adeline and Caroline, both of which were fashionable. Later attempts to derive it from the Latin or from Arlene's supposed Celtic roots are reconstructions after the fact. It is a coinage, and the coinage is the history.
Pronouncing Arline
ar-LEEN
Two syllables, stress on the second. Arline and Arlene are said identically.
Nicknames for Arline
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
- 1883
- Most girls named
- 1924677 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #248reached in 1936
- Change vs 2020
- −28.6%5 in 2023, from 7
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.
Arline in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arlene in English — spelling variant
- Arleen in English — spelling variant
- Arline in French — same name
Arlines among us
people named Arline 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
Arline has already lived its whole cycle: it rose, had its era, and has stepped off the charts. The fashion question is behind it — what lies ahead is the waiting room where revivals begin, once a name's first generation has grown distant enough for it to sound fresh again.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- It has a precisely datable origin in a documented and once-enormous popular work.
- The end stress gives it a distinct rhythm against a front-stressed surname.
- Arlie and Lina are both available and are very different in feel.
- It has no inherited meaning, which matters to families for whom that is the point.
- Arlene is commoner in American records and will often be assumed.
- It is firmly period-coded to the first half of the twentieth century.
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Arline
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Arlines are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 4,100 people named Arline are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arline in 2025?
- Arline is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Arline with classmates?
- Arline 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 Arline? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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