Ariel
Ariel is a unisex name: 851 girls and 533 boys were given it in 2025 (#356 among girls’ names and #558 among boys’, #485 among all names counting both); 100,665 Americans have been recorded with it since 1892 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026). Girls have outnumbered boys among babies named Ariel every year since 1982.
An estimated 98,100 Americans named Ariel and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (98% of everyone recorded); the median is 24 years old and half are between 12 and 34.
Ariel is among the most evenly shared names of 2025: #12 of 43 unisex names by how close its split is to half and half.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Ariel by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Ariel mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Ariel is “a female given name from Hebrew, used mainly since the 1980s.”
Also “a male given name from Hebrew, also ascribed to spirits and angels in English literature.”
The names of all four satellites of Uranus then known were suggested by John Herschel in 1852 at the request of William Lassell, though it is uncertain if Herschel devised the names, or if Lassell did so and then sought Herschel’s permission. Ariel is the name of the leading sylph in Pope’s The Rape of the Lock and also the spirit who serves Prospero in Shakespeare’s The Tempest.
/ˈɛɹiəl/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Ariel?
#356 among girls’ names, 2025
Ariel fell from #137 in 2015 to #356 in 2025 among girls’ names; its share of girls born fell from 1.3 to 0.53 per 1,000.
6,077 babies in 1991, the peak
Ariel peaked in 1991, when 6,077 babies were given it (5,411 girls, #66 among girls’ names). The 1,384 births of 2025 (girls and boys) are 23% of that peak.
Births by sex.
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 851 | #356 | 533 | #558 |
| 2024 | 1,055 | #300 | 598 | #509 |
| 2023 | 1,096 | #287 | 566 | #521 |
| 2022 | 1,295 | #236 | 519 | #569 |
| 2021 | 1,351 | #220 | 507 | #557 |
| 2020 | 1,472 | #200 | 497 | #565 |
| 2019 | 1,685 | #172 | 511 | #551 |
| 2018 | 1,832 | #154 | 470 | #584 |
| 2017 | 2,076 | #142 | 600 | #488 |
| 2016 | 2,199 | #140 | 601 | #499 |
Every recorded year (125)
| Year | Girls | Girls’ rank | Boys | Boys’ rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 2,358 | #137 | 455 | #602 |
| 2014 | 2,445 | #132 | 319 | #743 |
| 2013 | 2,140 | #145 | 298 | #759 |
| 2012 | 1,742 | #181 | 296 | #769 |
| 2011 | 1,438 | #220 | 379 | #623 |
| 2010 | 1,462 | #213 | 413 | #602 |
| 2009 | 1,577 | #205 | 475 | #556 |
| 2008 | 1,553 | #217 | 455 | #568 |
| 2007 | 1,784 | #188 | 521 | #508 |
| 2006 | 1,734 | #202 | 573 | #468 |
| 2005 | 1,568 | #222 | 438 | #547 |
| 2004 | 1,546 | #219 | 416 | #553 |
| 2003 | 1,548 | #213 | 387 | #572 |
| 2002 | 1,548 | #215 | 441 | #514 |
| 2001 | 1,654 | #197 | 405 | #538 |
| 2000 | 1,753 | #184 | 384 | #548 |
| 1999 | 1,834 | #171 | 422 | #505 |
| 1998 | 2,150 | #147 | 467 | #474 |
| 1997 | 2,212 | #145 | 442 | #484 |
| 1996 | 1,924 | #163 | 469 | #462 |
| 1995 | 2,149 | #151 | 447 | #484 |
| 1994 | 2,187 | #146 | 444 | #480 |
| 1993 | 2,707 | #121 | 441 | #478 |
| 1992 | 3,961 | #87 | 456 | #472 |
| 1991 | 5,411 | #66 | 666 | #360 |
| 1990 | 3,607 | #94 | 408 | #481 |
| 1989 | 1,284 | #209 | 383 | #489 |
| 1988 | 911 | #277 | 345 | #493 |
| 1987 | 626 | #373 | 294 | #521 |
| 1986 | 653 | #364 | 299 | #509 |
| 1985 | 600 | #379 | 291 | #513 |
| 1984 | 636 | #362 | 281 | #504 |
| 1983 | 650 | #348 | 315 | #471 |
| 1982 | 584 | #394 | 294 | #497 |
| 1981 | 228 | #722 | 236 | #553 |
| 1980 | 181 | #853 | 239 | #554 |
| 1979 | 154 | #951 | 216 | #581 |
| 1978 | 162 | #895 | 223 | #561 |
| 1977 | 105 | #1,176 | 157 | #675 |
| 1976 | 63 | #1,587 | 177 | #614 |
| 1975 | 60 | #1,628 | 175 | #616 |
| 1974 | 36 | #2,216 | 155 | #647 |
| 1973 | 42 | #1,940 | 106 | #772 |
| 1972 | 31 | #2,357 | 100 | #797 |
| 1971 | 26 | #2,742 | 87 | #873 |
| 1970 | 38 | #2,124 | 83 | #885 |
| 1969 | 30 | #2,354 | 82 | #846 |
| 1968 | 27 | #2,364 | 82 | #818 |
| 1967 | 13 | #3,667 | 60 | #931 |
| 1966 | 10 | #4,208 | 28 | #1,450 |
| 1965 | 11 | #3,965 | 43 | #1,145 |
| 1964 | 16 | #3,250 | 34 | #1,350 |
| 1963 | 9 | #4,557 | 29 | #1,455 |
| 1962 | under 5 | 27 | #1,516 | |
| 1961 | 11 | #4,022 | 35 | #1,350 |
| 1960 | 12 | #3,702 | 25 | #1,620 |
| 1959 | 5 | #6,292 | 15 | #2,115 |
| 1958 | under 5 | 16 | #2,027 | |
| 1957 | 11 | #3,706 | 24 | #1,633 |
| 1956 | 5 | #5,992 | 18 | #1,887 |
| 1955 | under 5 | 6 | #3,520 | |
| 1954 | 8 | #4,295 | 6 | #3,465 |
| 1953 | 10 | #3,698 | 9 | #2,715 |
| 1952 | 8 | #4,142 | 12 | #2,254 |
| 1951 | 7 | #4,401 | 12 | #2,253 |
| 1950 | 9 | #3,675 | 7 | #3,036 |
| 1949 | 8 | #3,909 | 6 | #3,319 |
| 1948 | 5 | #5,277 | 10 | #2,447 |
| 1947 | 13 | #2,908 | under 5 | |
| 1946 | 11 | #3,038 | 7 | #2,929 |
| 1945 | 8 | #3,401 | 10 | #2,247 |
| 1944 | 6 | #4,075 | 7 | #2,874 |
| 1943 | 16 | #2,258 | under 5 | |
| 1942 | 8 | #3,457 | 5 | #3,590 |
| 1941 | 11 | #2,672 | under 5 | |
| 1939 | 7 | #3,444 | under 5 | |
| 1938 | 11 | #2,588 | 13 | #1,984 |
| 1937 | 8 | #3,160 | 9 | #2,486 |
| 1936 | 11 | #2,529 | under 5 | |
| 1935 | 8 | #3,169 | 8 | #2,726 |
| 1934 | 6 | #3,828 | 7 | #2,987 |
| 1933 | 7 | #3,423 | under 5 | |
| 1932 | 8 | #3,292 | under 5 | |
| 1931 | 9 | #2,988 | 8 | #2,877 |
| 1930 | 8 | #3,362 | 8 | #3,036 |
| 1929 | 14 | #2,313 | 11 | #2,458 |
| 1928 | 7 | #3,766 | 9 | #2,856 |
| 1927 | 12 | #2,709 | 7 | #3,465 |
| 1926 | 8 | #3,592 | under 5 | |
| 1925 | 12 | #2,787 | under 5 | |
| 1924 | 11 | #2,983 | 8 | #3,275 |
| 1923 | 10 | #3,139 | 13 | #2,337 |
| 1922 | 17 | #2,192 | 12 | #2,494 |
| 1921 | 16 | #2,291 | 10 | #2,814 |
| 1920 | 22 | #1,822 | 10 | #2,771 |
| 1919 | 11 | #2,824 | under 5 | |
| 1918 | 25 | #1,602 | 8 | #3,115 |
| 1917 | 15 | #2,208 | 9 | #2,739 |
| 1916 | 27 | #1,408 | 7 | #3,192 |
| 1915 | 23 | #1,524 | 7 | #3,099 |
| 1914 | 7 | #2,906 | 9 | #2,279 |
| 1913 | 19 | #1,311 | 5 | #2,839 |
| 1912 | 9 | #1,990 | under 5 | |
| 1911 | 14 | #1,247 | under 5 | |
| 1910 | 6 | #2,159 | under 5 | |
| 1909 | 7 | #1,779 | under 5 | |
| 1908 | 12 | #1,212 | under 5 | |
| 1907 | 9 | #1,397 | under 5 | |
| 1906 | 8 | #1,423 | under 5 | |
| 1905 | 5 | #1,951 | under 5 | |
| 1904 | 6 | #1,668 | under 5 | |
| 1900 | 5 | #1,949 | under 5 | |
| 1899 | 5 | #1,617 | under 5 | |
| 1894 | 5 | #1,505 | under 5 | |
| 1892 | 5 | #1,470 | under 5 |
Ranks: girls’ names and boys’ names ranked separately in each year’s SSA file; “under 5” is a year SSA did not list the name for that sex.
Is Ariel a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Of the 100,665 Americans recorded as Ariel, 78% are girls and 22% boys.
Years with fewer than 20 babies given the name are left blank.
Girls and boys named Ariel: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Ariel, and how old are they?
98,100 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 98% of the 100,665 Americans ever recorded as Ariel. The median Ariel alive today is 24 years old; half are between 12 and 34.
The 2020 Census counted 87,270 people named Ariel (61,535 women and girls, 25,735 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 88,840 born in the U.S. The Census count is 2% below that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 61 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 326 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 2,740 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 33,200 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 33,600 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 28,100 |
An estimate, not a count. SSA’s files count people born in the United States who received a Social Security number, so anyone born abroad is not in them; before 1937 most people got a number as adults, and their survival is counted from that age.
Living estimate: SSA births carried forward with the survival rates in SSA’s cohort life tables (2024 Trustees Report) for each birth year and sex. How the estimate is made. Count: Census Bureau, first names in the 2020 Census (released April 14, 2026; names reported 100 or more times, with the Bureau’s disclosure-avoidance adjustment).
Where are babies named Ariel born?
The states with the most babies named Ariel are California, Texas and New York, with 43% of its births recorded by state in 2025.
| State | Births 2025 | Rank, girls | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| California | 248 | #185 | 1.1× |
| Texas | 211 | #283 | 1.2× |
| New York | 100 | #335 | 1.5× |
| Florida | 80 | #404 | 1.2× |
| Arizona | 59 | #213 | 1.1× |
| North Carolina | 54 | #298 | 0.9× |
| Georgia | 46 | #351 | 1.0× |
| New Jersey | 42 | #578 | 0.9× |
| Illinois | 41 | #518 | 1.0× |
| Ohio | 32 | #486 | 0.6× |
Where Ariel is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Ariel is most over-represented in New York: since 1910 it was given 1.5 times as often there as its national share each year would predict.
States: SSA state file, 1910-2025, published May 8, 2026; births count girls and boys together, and the rank is among girls’ names in the state in 2025. The file leaves out any state and year with fewer than 5 babies of the name, so small states are undercounted; each ratio compares the state’s births of Ariel with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names spelled alike
Of these 8 names spelled alike, given to 138,071 babies since 1880, Ariel is the most given (73% of them). In 2025 it was given to 1,384 of their 2,063 babies (67%), again the most given.
Spelled alike: names in the SSA national file with the same pattern of letters and sounds and at most two letters apart, and Wiktionary’s listed forms; births since 1880 and in 2025, and each name’s peak year, from the SSA national file, published May 8, 2026. Some are separate names, not spellings of one.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Ariel
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
| Name | Recorded | 1890-2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Aryn | 3,373 |
Similar histories: each decade’s share of births, from the SSA national file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
More about Ariel and names like it
- Compare Ariel and ArielleBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1990sAriel peaked in 1991.
- California’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Ariel since 1910.
- Hebrew namesWiktionary’s origin for Ariel: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1991The year the most babies were named Ariel.
- The names of Generation ZMost people named Ariel alive today were born 1997-2012.
- Names starting with AMost given first.