Arthur
Feminine
Arthur is given to boys far more often — 548,729 boys against 3,201 girls since 1880. See Arthur as a boy name
The Round Table is not in the earliest Arthur stories. It was added by a Norman poet in the twelfth century, writing in French for an English court, who wanted a way of saying that none of the knights outranked the others — and it has been in every version since.
How old is the name Arthur?
Arthur was already in use when US birth records began in 1880 — it is at least 145 years old. The typical Arthur alive today was born around 1935, making them about 90 years old. About 1,300 people named Arthur are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arthur most popular?
Arthur peaked in 1885, reaching #695 nationally. See the whole 1885 chart.
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Arthur
The literary Arthur was assembled in stages, and each stage added something that now feels original. A Welsh list gives him battles; a twelfth-century Latin history gives him a biography and an empire; Wace, writing in Norman French shortly after, gives him the Round Table; a French poet a generation later gives him Lancelot and the affair. The name's modern popularity has a clearer cause. Queen Victoria named a son Arthur after the Duke of Wellington, whose own first name it was, and the name climbed steeply across the English-speaking world in the decades afterwards. It has come back again in the last few years, having sat quietly for most of a century.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The name has no agreed source. A Roman family name, a Celtic word for a bear and an Irish personal name have all been proposed, and none can be shown. For a name this famous, that is a remarkable gap.
Pronouncing Arthur
AR-thur
Two syllables with the weight at the front. French says ar-TUR with the stress at the back; Spanish and Italian give it three as Arturo.
Nicknames for Arthur
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 girls named
- 192894 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #695reached in 1885
- Change vs 1994
- +16.7%7 in 2024, 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.
Arthur in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arthur in French — same name
- Arthur in Welsh — same name
- Arturo in Spanish — same name
- Arturo in Italian — same name
- Artur in Portuguese — same name
Arthurs among us
people named Arthur 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
Arthur sits outside the current charts, and that is its own kind of answer: naming cycles can only date the names they carried up. A name this rare has no decade stamped on it — it cannot go out of fashion, because it was never in.
Based on 146 years of naming cycles. How we read them
The trade-off
- Everyone can spell it and say it on first hearing, in almost any European language.
- It has a form in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Welsh.
- It carries one of the largest bodies of literature attached to any name.
- It has an unbroken run in American records from the first year they were kept.
- Its origin is genuinely unknown, so any book that gives one confidently is guessing.
- The legend is enormous and unavoidable, which is either the appeal or the burden.
- The spelling is recorded for a small number of girls, though it reads overwhelmingly as a boy's name.
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Arthur
Feminine
Frequently asked
- How many Arthurs are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 1,300 people named Arthur are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arthur in 2025?
- Arthur is rarely given in the US today — it does not rank in the top 2000 girl names.
- Will my child share the name Arthur with classmates?
- Arthur 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 Arthur? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arthur and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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