Arnold
Arnold was given to 120 boys in 2025, #1,477 among boys’ names; 104,396 Americans have been recorded with it since 1880 (Social Security Administration, published May 2026).
An estimated 37,200 Americans named Arnold and born in the U.S. are alive in 2026 (36% of everyone recorded); the median is 66 years old and half are between 50 and 76.
Girls and boys together; gaps are years SSA did not record (fewer than 5 births).
Births of Arnold by year: SSA national baby-name file, 1880-2025, published May 8, 2026. SSA’s notes on the data.
What does Arnold mean?
Wiktionary, English section
Arnold is “a male given name from the Germanic languages brought to England by Normans.” Its etymology gives the senses “eagle” (*arô) and “power” (*waldą).
From a French version of a Germanic name, from Proto-West Germanic *Arnuwald, from Proto-Germanic *arô (“eagle”) + *waldą (“power”). For the first part of the word doublet of erne, ornis, and ornitho-. Compare the Latin male given name and cognomen Aquila, and female given name Aquilīna (whence Russian Акули́на (Akulína)), related to aquila (whence eagle).
/ˈɑɹnəld/
Meaning: Wiktionary, English section, as of Sep 25, 2026 (CC BY‑SA 4.0).
How popular is Arnold?
#1,477 among boys’ names, 2025
Arnold rose from #1,657 in 2015 to #1,477 in 2025 among boys’ names; its share of boys born rose from 49.6 to 70.3 per million.
2,031 babies in 1924, the peak
Arnold peaked in 1924, when 2,031 babies were given it (2,014 boys, #95 among boys’ names). The 120 births of 2025 are 6% of that peak.
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | 120 | #1,477 | 0.07 |
| 2024 | 99 | #1,687 | 0.06 |
| 2023 | 105 | #1,640 | 0.06 |
| 2022 | 118 | #1,524 | 0.07 |
| 2021 | 112 | #1,556 | 0.06 |
| 2020 | 88 | #1,744 | 0.05 |
| 2019 | 115 | #1,487 | 0.06 |
| 2018 | 103 | #1,593 | 0.06 |
| 2017 | 120 | #1,433 | 0.06 |
| 2016 | 98 | #1,629 | 0.05 |
Every recorded year (146)
| Year | Births | Rank | Per 1,000 boys |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 95 | #1,657 | 0.05 |
| 2014 | 81 | #1,828 | 0.04 |
| 2013 | 97 | #1,589 | 0.05 |
| 2012 | 88 | #1,712 | 0.05 |
| 2011 | 113 | #1,449 | 0.06 |
| 2010 | 90 | #1,698 | 0.05 |
| 2009 | 125 | #1,368 | 0.06 |
| 2008 | 127 | #1,349 | 0.06 |
| 2007 | 137 | #1,277 | 0.07 |
| 2006 | 133 | #1,255 | 0.06 |
| 2005 | 153 | #1,075 | 0.08 |
| 2004 | 191 | #900 | 0.10 |
| 2003 | 213 | #821 | 0.11 |
| 2002 | 180 | #897 | 0.09 |
| 2001 | 219 | #775 | 0.11 |
| 2000 | 218 | #759 | 0.11 |
| 1999 | 188 | #807 | 0.10 |
| 1998 | 234 | #710 | 0.12 |
| 1997 | 245 | #666 | 0.13 |
| 1996 | 239 | #681 | 0.13 |
| 1995 | 236 | #689 | 0.12 |
| 1994 | 265 | #636 | 0.14 |
| 1993 | 327 | #564 | 0.17 |
| 1992 | 311 | #575 | 0.16 |
| 1991 | 323 | #563 | 0.16 |
| 1990 | 327 | #560 | 0.16 |
| 1989 | 287 | #574 | 0.14 |
| 1988 | 271 | #560 | 0.14 |
| 1987 | 270 | #553 | 0.14 |
| 1986 | 242 | #568 | 0.13 |
| 1985 | 193 | #634 | 0.10 |
| 1984 | 256 | #540 | 0.14 |
| 1983 | 257 | #521 | 0.14 |
| 1982 | 267 | #521 | 0.15 |
| 1981 | 259 | #524 | 0.14 |
| 1980 | 276 | #510 | 0.15 |
| 1979 | 277 | #500 | 0.16 |
| 1978 | 250 | #519 | 0.15 |
| 1977 | 280 | #484 | 0.17 |
| 1976 | 301 | #451 | 0.19 |
| 1975 | 321 | #445 | 0.21 |
| 1974 | 332 | #433 | 0.21 |
| 1973 | 388 | #394 | 0.25 |
| 1972 | 472 | #356 | 0.29 |
| 1971 | 498 | #361 | 0.28 |
| 1970 | 569 | #332 | 0.31 |
| 1969 | 610 | #306 | 0.34 |
| 1968 | 658 | #289 | 0.38 |
| 1967 | 780 | #257 | 0.45 |
| 1966 | 816 | #253 | 0.46 |
| 1965 | 945 | #241 | 0.51 |
| 1964 | 1,043 | #232 | 0.52 |
| 1963 | 1,144 | #223 | 0.56 |
| 1962 | 1,151 | #224 | 0.56 |
| 1961 | 1,153 | #234 | 0.54 |
| 1960 | 1,201 | #231 | 0.56 |
| 1959 | 1,192 | #229 | 0.56 |
| 1958 | 1,136 | #230 | 0.54 |
| 1957 | 1,265 | #211 | 0.59 |
| 1956 | 1,216 | #213 | 0.57 |
| 1955 | 1,315 | #197 | 0.64 |
| 1954 | 1,282 | #196 | 0.63 |
| 1953 | 1,391 | #182 | 0.71 |
| 1952 | 1,463 | #179 | 0.75 |
| 1951 | 1,428 | #177 | 0.76 |
| 1950 | 1,508 | #166 | 0.84 |
| 1949 | 1,590 | #158 | 0.90 |
| 1948 | 1,641 | #154 | 0.94 |
| 1947 | 1,795 | #149 | 1.0 |
| 1946 | 1,571 | #153 | 1.0 |
| 1945 | 1,407 | #147 | 1.0 |
| 1944 | 1,461 | #145 | 1.1 |
| 1943 | 1,705 | #131 | 1.2 |
| 1942 | 1,685 | #130 | 1.2 |
| 1941 | 1,600 | #123 | 1.3 |
| 1940 | 1,581 | #118 | 1.4 |
| 1939 | 1,617 | #113 | 1.5 |
| 1938 | 1,819 | #111 | 1.6 |
| 1937 | 1,725 | #111 | 1.6 |
| 1936 | 1,712 | #111 | 1.7 |
| 1935 | 1,883 | #103 | 1.8 |
| 1934 | 1,780 | #105 | 1.7 |
| 1933 | 1,749 | #103 | 1.8 |
| 1932 | 1,820 | #100 | 1.7 |
| 1931 | 1,835 | #98 | 1.8 |
| 1930 | 1,948 | #98 | 1.8 |
| 1929 | 1,979 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1928 | 1,974 | #98 | 1.8 |
| 1927 | 1,998 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 1926 | 1,882 | #99 | 1.7 |
| 1925 | 1,972 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1924 | 2,014 | #95 | 1.8 |
| 1923 | 1,927 | #93 | 1.8 |
| 1922 | 1,892 | #94 | 1.7 |
| 1921 | 1,982 | #91 | 1.8 |
| 1920 | 1,911 | #91 | 1.8 |
| 1919 | 1,767 | #94 | 1.8 |
| 1918 | 1,910 | #92 | 1.9 |
| 1917 | 1,781 | #91 | 1.9 |
| 1916 | 1,858 | #89 | 2.1 |
| 1915 | 1,691 | #91 | 2.0 |
| 1914 | 1,174 | #97 | 1.8 |
| 1913 | 1,032 | #92 | 2.0 |
| 1912 | 767 | #99 | 1.8 |
| 1911 | 348 | #108 | 1.5 |
| 1910 | 258 | #126 | 1.3 |
| 1909 | 237 | #117 | 1.4 |
| 1908 | 202 | #125 | 1.3 |
| 1907 | 177 | #135 | 1.2 |
| 1906 | 164 | #127 | 1.2 |
| 1905 | 144 | #146 | 1.1 |
| 1904 | 149 | #137 | 1.2 |
| 1903 | 134 | #139 | 1.1 |
| 1902 | 107 | #166 | 0.87 |
| 1901 | 110 | #146 | 1.0 |
| 1900 | 122 | #171 | 0.81 |
| 1899 | 98 | #154 | 0.92 |
| 1898 | 112 | #151 | 0.91 |
| 1897 | 103 | #151 | 0.91 |
| 1896 | 102 | #160 | 0.85 |
| 1895 | 96 | #163 | 0.82 |
| 1894 | 79 | #189 | 0.68 |
| 1893 | 80 | #180 | 0.71 |
| 1892 | 80 | #192 | 0.66 |
| 1891 | 57 | #209 | 0.56 |
| 1890 | 52 | #229 | 0.47 |
| 1889 | 42 | #252 | 0.38 |
| 1888 | 51 | #243 | 0.42 |
| 1887 | 38 | #262 | 0.37 |
| 1886 | 41 | #264 | 0.37 |
| 1885 | 33 | #290 | 0.31 |
| 1884 | 49 | #244 | 0.43 |
| 1883 | 42 | #253 | 0.40 |
| 1882 | 42 | #265 | 0.37 |
| 1881 | 29 | #296 | 0.29 |
| 1880 | 37 | #276 | 0.33 |
Ranks and shares: boys’ names in each year’s SSA file; share of all boys SSA recorded that year.
Is Arnold a boy’s or a girl’s name?
Arnold has been given almost only to boys: 550 girls in 146 years of records.
Girls and boys named Arnold: the SSA national file counts each sex separately.
How many people are named Arnold, and how old are they?
37,200 alive in 2026, estimated
That is 36% of the 104,396 Americans ever recorded as Arnold. The median Arnold alive today is 66 years old; half are between 50 and 76.
The 2020 Census counted 47,513 people named Arnold (97 women and girls, 47,416 men and boys). SSA’s births carried forward to Census day, April 1, 2020, predict 44,584 born in the U.S. The Census count is 7% above that prediction.
Alive today, by age
Alive today, by generation
| Generation | Born | Alive |
|---|---|---|
| Silent Generation | 1928-1945 | 5,740 |
| Baby Boomers | 1946-1964 | 16,600 |
| Generation X | 1965-1980 | 6,780 |
| Millennials | 1981-1996 | 4,110 |
| Generation Z | 1997-2012 | 2,610 |
| Generation Alpha | 2013-2025 | 1,340 |
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 Arnold born?
The states with the most babies named Arnold are New York, California and Illinois, with 25% of its births recorded by state since 1910.
| State | Since 1910 | Rank, boys | vs. national |
|---|---|---|---|
| New York | 12,377 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| California | 6,471 | #1,446 | 1.1× |
| Illinois | 4,988 | #1,143 | 0.9× |
| Texas | 4,923 | #1,172 | 0.8× |
| Michigan | 4,655 | not ranked | 1.1× |
| Pennsylvania | 4,360 | #1,240 | 0.6× |
| Minnesota | 4,304 | #590 | 1.9× |
| Wisconsin | 3,936 | not ranked | 1.6× |
| Kentucky | 3,311 | not ranked | 1.4× |
| Ohio | 3,256 | #857 | 0.6× |
Where Arnold is more common than its national share predicts
Relative to its national share, Arnold is most over-represented in North Dakota: since 1910 it was given 2.4 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 boys’ 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 Arnold with the births its national share predicts year by year, for states with at least 100 births of the name.
Names that rose and fell in the same decades as Arnold
Names whose births rose and fell across the same decades, measured on each decade’s share of births.
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 Arnold and names like it
- Compare Arnold and WeldonBirths, ranks, peak and the living estimate side by side.
- The most given names of the 1920sArnold peaked in 1924.
- New York’s most given namesThe state where SSA recorded the most babies named Arnold since 1910.
- Germanic namesWiktionary’s origin for Arnold: every such name, by how often it is given.
- The top names of 1924The year the most babies were named Arnold.
- The names of the Baby BoomersMost people named Arnold alive today were born 1946-1964.
- Names starting with AMost given first.