Girls' name · since 1898

Arleen

Arleen has 12,611 recorded births since 1898 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1939 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#1,450 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#6,128 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
12,611
born since 1898
1940s
peak decade

Arleen currently ranks #6128 among girls' names in America, with 12,611 babies recorded since 1898.

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Arleen has been recorded 12,611 times among girls since 1898, currently ranked #6128 nationally and more common than 65% of girls, with its heaviest use in the 1940s. This profile covers year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution, all derived directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1898 to 2025.

  • #1,450 of 72,339 all-time among girls
  • #6,128 of 17,297 2025 SSA year
  • 12,611 born since 1898
  • 1940s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Arleen ranks #1,450 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #6,128 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. 12,611 born since 1898, peaking in the 1940s.

#1,450 of 72,339
all-time among girls
#6,128 of 17,297
2025 SSA year
12,611
born since 1898
1940s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%64.5%
Arleen vs. every other girls name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Arleen's 12,611 recorded births place it above 97.99% of the 72,339 girls names in the full SSA archive.

38 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

38 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by New York.

How Arleen compares

12,611 Top 9% higher than 91% of 17,297 names currently given to girls

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked girls names. Names with fewer occurrences are grouped into wider buckets on the right.

Source U.S. Social Security Administration, national baby name data

How the numbers stack up

Arleen's all-time total is 34x the median girls name, and Olivia still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Arleen Median girls name (Kyann) #1 girls name (Olivia)
All-time total births 12,611 376 567,345
Peak-year births 415 21 19,840

Arleen's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Arleen splits its recorded history at 1962: 28% of all births land in the more recent half, 72% in the earlier half, leaning more toward its earlier era than today's. The single quietest year was 1898 (5 births) -- compare that against the 1939 peak of 415 for a sense of just how much the name's popularity has swung.

Arleen popularity over time - girls

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1898–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (1939)
415
Annual births at peak, across 128 years of records
0100200300400500 189819151931194719631979199520112025 19

Arleen popularity over time - boys

6 total births recorded since 1942 (Arleen as boys' name)

Unisex variant - 6 births
6 1942 6

Arleen by decade

1940s is the heaviest window (2,560 births, 20% of the file).

1940s was Arleen's strongest decade.

2,560 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 20% of all-time use.

Arleen births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1940s at 2,560 births (20% of all-time use).

Source U.S. Social Security Administration · Baby Names As of August 2026

How Arleen compares to similarly-sized names

Years in SSA records vs. share of all-time use concentrated in the single peak year, among 15 girls names closest to Arleen's total volume

Arleen vs 15 similarly-sized girls names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15%20%25% 050100150200 New & already peakedOld name, single-era peakNew & still diversifyingLong history, steady all along Years in SSA records % of total births in the single peak year -144, 1.6%-45, 11.3%-56, 23.4%-146, 3.4%-76, 2.8%-63, 13.4%-103, 3.5%-57, 5.5%-44, 5.5%-69, 4.4%-146, 3%-60, 5.8%-146, 3%-110, 3.8%-146, 2.4%Arleen-128, 3.3%Arleen
Arleen vs 15 similarly-sized girls names

Arleen by state

Where Arleen concentrates geographically, total births since 1898

Geographically diffuse
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Arleen
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 New York
2,027 16.1%
#2 California
1,838 14.6%
#3 Pennsylvania
572 4.5%
#4 New Jersey
564 4.5%
#5 Wisconsin
559 4.4%
#6 Texas
486 3.9%
#7 Illinois
484 3.8%
#8 Michigan
394 3.1%
New York share of Arleen's total US births 16.1%
Even split

2,027 of 12,611 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 38 reporting states.

Arleen appears in 38 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Arleen?
Since 1898, Social Security records show 12,611 babies named Arleen. Across the full SSA archive it ranks #1,450 of 72,339 girls' names by total births. In 2025, it holds #6,128 of 17,297 among girls. Its busiest year on record was 1939, with 415 births.
Where does Arleen sit in the SSA name archive?
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Arleen ranks #1,450 of 72,339 girls' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #6,128 of 17,297 among girls' names in 2025. All-time ordinal matches browse popularity (total births DESC); the current ordinal uses the 2025 SSA file. See /methodology#corpus-placement.
When was Arleen most popular?
Arleen was most popular in the 1940s decade with 2,560 total births. The single peak year was 1939.
Where is Arleen most popular?
The top states for the name Arleen are New York (2,027 births), California (1,838 births), Pennsylvania (572 births).
How long has the name Arleen been used?
Records for Arleen go back to 1898, giving 128 years of history through 2025.
What names are similar to Arleen?
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Arlene, Arline, Arlette, Arleth, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for girls.

What to do with Arleen's data

  • Arleen's decade-level peak was the 1940s (2,560 total births); usage has since declined to 208 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • New York records the most Arleens (2,027 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. New York names

Figures reflect SSA-reported births only; see the methodology above for the privacy-suppression floor.

Keep exploring Arleen

Nearby Names Like Arleen

Names with a similar sound, spelling, or feel to Arleen

Names with a similar popularity rank to Arleen

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Arleen: closest SSA peak year, and closest first→latest record span. Distinct from the spelling and current-rank neighborhoods above.

Peak year is the single SSA year with the most births for that name; record span is first-to-latest year in the national files, not a recommendation or shared origin claim.

Data Sources

Data as of August 2026. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).

According to the Social Security Administration, this profile draws directly from the agency's public-use baby-name files (updated June 2026). See our methodology for the full extraction, aggregation, and privacy-suppression rules.

Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications, National Data, 1898–2025 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames).

State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names, State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip).

Name Almanac is rendered directly from the Social Security Administration's public baby-name files, no number is typed in by an editor. This profile for Arleen draws directly on SSA national and state-level files, no figure is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of August 2026.