Boys' name · since 1880

Art

Art has 6,141 recorded births since 1880 in federal Social Security data, most heavily in 1961 -- full year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state rankings follow.

#1,561 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#3,383 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
6,141
born since 1880
1960s
peak decade

Yes -- Art is the #3383 most popular boys' name in the U.S. today, with 6,141 recorded since 1880.

Social Security Administration records show Art recorded 6,141 times among boys since 1880, holding rank #3383 nationally today, ahead of 76% of boys, peaking in the 1960s. This profile derives year-by-year birth trends, decade totals, and state-level distribution directly from SSA birth-registration files spanning 1880 to 2025.

  • #1,561 of 45,481 all-time among boys
  • #3,383 of 13,930 2025 SSA year
  • 6,141 born since 1880
  • 1960s peak decade

Data updated Aug 2026

The verdict

According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Art ranks #1,561 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #3,383 of 13,930 among boys' names in 2025. 6,141 born since 1880, peaking in the 1960s.

#1,561 of 45,481
all-time among boys
#3,383 of 13,930
2025 SSA year
6,141
born since 1880
1960s
peak decade
0%100%Median name50%75.7%
Art vs. every other boys name in current SSA rankings
Upper archive tier
All-time archive position

Art's 6,141 recorded births place it above 96.56% of the 45,481 boys names in the full SSA archive.

25 jurisdictions
State-record footprint

25 jurisdictions carry state-level records, led by California.

How Art compares

6,141 Top 11% higher than 89% of 13,930 names currently given to boys

Based on all-time total births among currently-ranked boys 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

Art's all-time total is 17x the median boys name, and Liam still leads by a wide margin.

Metric Art Median boys name (Takari) #1 boys name (Liam)
All-time total births 6,141 369 358,536
Peak-year births 189 34 22,252

Art's usage pattern, beyond the headline number

Splitting Art's full recorded timeline at 1953, 50% of its total births fall in the more recent half of the record versus 50% in the earlier half -- a fairly even split across the full record. Its quietest year on record was 1889, with just 5 recorded births -- worth weighing against the 1961 peak of 189 to see the full range of the name's swing in popularity.

Art popularity over time - boys

Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 1880–2025

Outside the top 1,000
Peak year (1961)
189
Annual births at peak, across 146 years of records
050100150200 188018991918193719561975199420132025 34

Art popularity over time - girls

5 total births recorded since 1918 (Art as girls' name)

Unisex variant - 5 births
5 1918 5

Art by decade

1960s is the heaviest window (1,123 births, 18% of the file).

1960s was Art's strongest decade.

1,123 babies received the name during that ten-year window, about 18% of all-time use.

Art births by decade

Total births in each ten-year window

births

What this shows Peak: 1960s at 1,123 births (18% of all-time use).

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

How Art compares to similarly-sized names

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

Art vs 15 similarly-sized boys names Scatter plot of 16 data points. 0%5%10%15% 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 -54, 6.2%-109, 3.9%-124, 4.1%-33, 7.4%-29, 10.4%-107, 3.2%-146, 2%-128, 5.7%-146, 1.4%-58, 3.9%-111, 2.3%-136, 5.7%-56, 10.7%-74, 7.7%-117, 2.7%Art-146, 3.1%Art
Art vs 15 similarly-sized boys names

Art by state

Where Art concentrates geographically, total births since 1880

Regionally concentrated
Top 8 states by recorded births for the name Art
Rank State Visual share Births Share of total
#1 California
1,363 22.2%
#2 Illinois
227 3.7%
#3 Texas
199 3.2%
#4 Michigan
182 3.0%
#5 Ohio
143 2.3%
#6 Washington
95 1.5%
#7 New York
73 1.2%
#8 Arizona
64 1.0%
California share of Art's total US births 22.2%
Even split

1,363 of 6,141 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 25 reporting states.

Art appears in 25 states. Explore state details →

Frequently Asked Questions

How popular is the name Art? ▼
6,141 babies have been named Art since 1880. All-time, it sits at #1,561 of 45,481 boys' names by recorded births. In 2025, it ranks #3,383 of 13,930 among boys. The peak year was 1961 with 189 births.
Where does Art sit in the SSA name archive? ▼
According to the U.S. Social Security Administration, Art ranks #1,561 of 45,481 boys' names by all-time recorded births (highest first) and #3,383 of 13,930 among boys' 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 Art most popular? ▼
Art was most popular in the 1960s decade with 1,123 total births. The single peak year was 1961.
Where is Art most popular? ▼
The top states for the name Art are California (1,363 births), Illinois (227 births), Texas (199 births).
How long has the name Art been used? ▼
Records for Art go back to 1880, giving 146 years of history through 2025.
What names are similar to Art? ▼
Names with a similar sound or spelling include Arthur, Arturo, Artis, Arther, and 4 more. These share a common prefix and are also used for boys.

What to do with Art's data

  • Art's decade-level peak was the 1960s (1,123 total births); usage has since declined to 178 in the 2020s -- if you're weighing a "classic revival" angle, the trend line argues against it.
  • California records the most Arts (1,363 births) -- see the full state breakdown if geography matters to your decision. California names

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

Keep exploring Art

Nearby Names Like Art

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

Arthur Boy
#87 548,729 births
Arturo Boy
#627 57,082 births
Artis Boy
#4869 5,377 births
Arther Boy
#12015 4,993 births
Artie Boy
#7689 4,417 births

Compare Art side by side: Art vs Arthur Art vs Arturo Art vs Artis

Or pick any two names to compare →

Related Names

Names with a similar popularity rank to Art

Johnson #3382
7,021 births · Peak 2000
Herschel #3384
10,674 births · Peak 1921
Christ #3381
3,977 births · Peak 1923
Marshal #3385
5,485 births · Peak 1999
Larkin #3380
2,521 births · Peak 2019
Sampson #3386
3,901 births · Peak 2017
Hubert #3379
57,572 births · Peak 1924
Gaston #3387
4,053 births · Peak 1918

Nationwide names with similar peak year or record span

Two nationwide peer axes for Art: 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, 1880–2025 (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 Art 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.