Arlon
Masculine
Arlon is a town in Belgium, one of the oldest in the country, and it is also an American name of the 1930s with no documented connection to it. The two arrive at the same five letters and the record does not join them.
How old is the name Arlon?
Arlon first appears in US birth records in 1912 — 113 years ago. The typical Arlon alive today was born around 1946, making them about 79 years old. About 700 people named Arlon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arlon most popular?
Arlon peaked in 1933, reaching #1051 nationally. Today it ranks #5608, 4,557 places below that high. See the whole 1933 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
Our story of Arlon
The Arl- cluster is a real thing in American naming and its dates are tight: Arlene, Arline, Arlen, Arlon, Arlyn and Arletta all appear in the 1920s and peak between 1930 and 1940, and all of them are essentially gone by 1970. Where the cluster came from is not documented. Arlene was the largest of them and is itself unexplained; the usual suggestion is a formation on Charlene or Marlene with the initial consonant dropped, which would make the whole group a set of variations on a variation. Arlon is the masculine member, peaking in 1933, and its resemblance to a Belgian town is almost certainly a coincidence.
Meaningnot established
Not established
No source establishes an etymology for the American given name. The Belgian town Arlon, Roman Orolaunum, has a Celtic name whose elements are not securely identified. The American name appears in the 1920s and 1930s alongside Arlen, Arline, Arlie and Arlyn, and is more plausibly a member of that group than a borrowing of the place. Neither can be shown.
Pronouncing Arlon
AR-lun
Two syllables, stress on the first, the second reduced. The Belgian town is said ar-LOHN in French and AR-lohn in Luxembourgish.
Nicknames for Arlon
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
- 1912
- Most boys named
- 193234 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1051reached in 1933
- Change vs 2023
- +166.7%16 in 2025, from 6
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.
Arlons among us
people named Arlon are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 106,755 born in 2025 was named Arlon
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 Robinson test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Arlon's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Robinson climbed just as high around 1900, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Robinson's path sketches the road Arlon is walking now.
Arlon 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
Arlon beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arlon in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Lon works as a short form and is an old American name.
- Everyone can say and spell it after one hearing.
- Five letters and two syllables keep it compact.
- There is no established meaning or origin.
- Arlen, Arlon and Arlyn are three spellings of nearly one sound.
- It is strongly dated to the 1930s.
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What they receive
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Arlon
Masculine · #5608 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arlons 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 Arlon are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arlon in 2025?
- Arlon ranks #5608 among US boy names in 2025, with 16 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arlon?
- About 1 in every 106,755 US boys born in 2025 was named Arlon — 16 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arlon with classmates?
- Arlon will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arlon
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 Arlon? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arlon and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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