Arlington
Masculine · “The settlement of Ǣrl's people”
Arlington is given to both — 1,586 boys and 115 girls since 1880. See other names given to both
Arlington is an English place name that America turned into a cemetery. The estate above the Potomac was confiscated from Robert E. Lee's family in the Civil War and used to bury Union dead, and that is what the word means now.
How old is the name Arlington?
Arlington was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Arlington alive today was born around 1941, making them about 84 years old. About 700 people named Arlington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlington most popular?
Arlington peaked in 1884, reaching #701 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 4,907 places below that high. See the whole 1884 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Arlington
Henry Bennet, first Earl of Arlington, took his title from an English manor and was one of Charles II's ministers; the Custis family named their Virginia estate after him. George Washington Parke Custis built the mansion, and his daughter married Robert E. Lee. The federal government confiscated the estate in 1861 and Quartermaster General Meigs began burying Union dead in the garden in 1864, specifically so the Lees could never return. As a given name Arlington belongs to the nineteenth-century American surname fashion and peaks in 1884, twenty years after the burials began.
Meaningscholars disagree
The settlement of Ǣrl's people
The English place names Arlington in Devon, Gloucestershire and Sussex have different derivations, generally involving an Old English personal name — Ǣrn, Ǣrl or Herela — with the -ing and tūn endings, giving the settlement of a named man's people. Which applies varies by place and none is a single settled reading for the surname.
Pronouncing Arlington
AR-ling-tun
Three syllables, stress on the first. There is no ambiguity in speech.
Nicknames for Arlington
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
- 191632 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #701reached in 1884
- Change vs 2023
- −33.3%16 in 2025, from 24
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.
Arlington in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Ælfredingtun in Old English — related form
Arlingtons among us
people named Arlington are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Arlington
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
Arlington 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
Arlington beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlington 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.
- Arlie works as a warm short form.
- It has a substantial and specific American history.
- The national cemetery is the first association for essentially every American.
- It reads as a place name and a surname rather than a given name.
- It is strongly dated to the late nineteenth century.
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Arlington
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlingtons 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 Arlington are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arlington in 2025?
- Arlington ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlington?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Arlington — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlington with classmates?
- Arlington will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlington
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Rolland#5608 · Llewellyn#5608 · Arlie#5608 · Gerrit#5608 · Vinson#5608 · Georgie#5608 · Wally#5608 · Webb#5608
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arlington? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arlington and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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