Arthor
Masculine
Arthur was a top-twenty American name in the 1890s, and the reason was a poem. Tennyson published the Idylls of the King over twenty-six years, they sold in enormous numbers, and the Victorian world went medieval.
How old is the name Arthor?
Arthor first appears in US birth records in 1896 — 129 years ago. The typical Arthor alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 200 people named Arthor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arthor most popular?
Arthor peaked in 1896, reaching #982 nationally. Today it ranks #10695, 9,713 places below that high. See the whole 1896 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
From Arthur to Arthor
The story of Arthor
The Arthurian revival ran through the whole of Victorian culture. Tennyson published the first Idylls in 1859 and the last in 1885, the Pre-Raphaelites painted the material relentlessly, William Morris furnished houses on the strength of it, and boys' books retold Malory for a mass readership. The names went with it: Arthur, Percival, Gareth, Elaine, Vivian, Enid and Guinevere all appear in the records of the following decades, and Arthur went far beyond the others, reaching the American top twenty in the 1880s and 1890s. Whether the historical Arthur existed is a separate and unresolved question; the name's popularity depended on a nineteenth-century poem rather than on a sixth-century commander.
Meaningnot established
Not established
Arthur's origin is genuinely unsettled: a derivation from the Roman family name Artorius and one from a Celtic word for a bear have both been argued, and neither is established. Arthor is an American respelling; its peak is 1896.
How the name formed
- Arthur
- Arthor
Related forms: Arthur · Arthur · Arthur
Pronouncing Arthor
AR-thur
Two syllables, stress on the first. Arthur and Arthor are homophones; the final vowel is a schwa in both.
Nicknames for Arthor
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
- 1896
- Most boys named
- 192321 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #982reached in 1896
- Change vs 2024
- +20.0%6 in 2025, from 5
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.
Arthor in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arthur in English — spelling variant
- Arthur in Welsh — same name
- Arthur in French — same name
Arthors among us
people named Arthor are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 284,679 born in 2025 was named Arthor
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
Arthor 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
Arthor beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arthor in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Art and Artie are two immediate short forms.
- The literary association is deep and well documented.
- Two syllables with a firm opening.
- Arthur is the standard spelling by an enormous margin.
- The name's own meaning is genuinely unknown.
- The 1896 peak dates this variant.
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Arthor
Masculine · #10695 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arthors are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 200 people named Arthor are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arthor in 2025?
- Arthor ranks #10695 among US boy names in 2025, with 6 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arthor?
- About 1 in every 284,679 US boys born in 2025 was named Arthor — 6 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arthor with classmates?
- Arthor will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arthor
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Dudley#10695 · Dell#10695 · Buford#10695 · Toney#10695 · Allison#10695 · Candido#10695 · Jodie#10695 · Nora#10695
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arthor? See the current top 100.
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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