Arthur — #105 US boys' name
544,857 babies named Arthur in U.S. Social Security records since 1880, with the highest year being 1921. Year-by-year trend, decade aggregates, and state-level rankings drawn from federal birth data.
More common than 99.3% of names given to boys today.
18% of everyone ever named Arthur was born in this single decade.
10,527 babies were named Arthur in 1921 — its busiest year on record.
What the Data Says About Arthur
The Social Security Administration has registered 544,857 babies named Arthur between 1880 and 2024, spanning 145 consecutive years of U.S. birth records. As a boy's name, Arthur currently holds the #105 rank among boys for 2024. The name reached its historical peak in 1921, when 10,527 babies received it in a single year.
Decade-level aggregation shows that Arthur performed strongest in the 1920s, accumulating 97,112 births during that ten-year window. Across the 15 decades of recorded activity, Arthur shows a clear decline from its mid-century high. Geographically, the name is most concentrated in New York, which accounts for 60,200 births — the largest state-level total in the dataset — followed by California and Pennsylvania. In total, SSA state-level files list Arthur in 51 of the 51 U.S. reporting jurisdictions.
No etymological entry is currently available for Arthur in our reference dataset. These figures derive from SSA's annual national and state-level name files, which include any name appearing at least five times in a given year or state-year; names below that threshold are suppressed for privacy and therefore excluded from the totals shown here. The 544,857 total represents a lower bound — actual usage may be higher in years or states where the count fell below the disclosure floor. This page is provided for informational and research purposes only and does not constitute personal, legal, or naming advice.
Arthur at a glance
Top 1,000 boys' namePeak year
Current rank
Active since
Arthur popularity over time — boys
Annual U.S. births registered with the Social Security Administration · 2024–1880
- Peak year (1921)
- 10,527
- Annual births at peak — across 145 years of records
Currently ranks #105 among boys.
544,857 total births across 145 years of SSA records. Peaked in 1921 with 10,527 births in a single year.
Arthur popularity over time — girls
3,200 total births recorded since 1880 (Arthur as girls' name)
Unisex use remains the minority pattern
The girls' variant of Arthur accounts for 1% of total recorded use across both genders.
Arthur by decade
Total births in each ten-year window — peak vs trough at a glance
- Peak decade
- 1920s
- 97,112 births that decade — 18% of Arthur's all-time total
Arthur decade highlights
- Peak decade 97,112 births
- Runner-up 73,966 births
- Modern era share 2010s + 2020s
- Decades tracked with recorded births
1920s was Arthur's strongest decade
97,112 babies received the name during that ten-year window — about 18% of all-time use.
Arthur by state
Where Arthur concentrates geographically — total births since 1880
| Rank | State | Visual share | Births | Share of total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | New York | | 60,200 | 11.0% |
| #2 | California | | 37,155 | 6.8% |
| #3 | Pennsylvania | | 28,476 | 5.2% |
| #4 | Illinois | | 27,321 | 5.0% |
| #5 | Massachusetts | | 25,619 | 4.7% |
| #6 | Texas | | 24,658 | 4.5% |
| #7 | Michigan | | 20,848 | 3.8% |
| #8 | Ohio | | 19,926 | 3.7% |
60,200 of 544,857 births nationwide. Compared to a flat distribution across 51 reporting states.
Top 5 states
- New York 11.0% of nationwide
- California 6.8% of nationwide
- Pennsylvania 5.2% of nationwide
- Illinois 5.0% of nationwide
- Massachusetts 4.7% of nationwide
Recorded in 51 of 51 SSA jurisdictions
New York accounts for 11.0% of all recorded births nationwide — a relatively diffuse profile for this name.
Arthur appears in 51 states. Explore state details →
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Sources
Data as of 2024. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration (SSA).
Primary: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names from Social Security Card Applications — National Data, 1880–2024 (ssa.gov/oact/babynames). National-level data includes all names with 5 or more occurrences in a given year.
State-level: Source: U.S. Social Security Administration, Baby Names — State-Level Files (namesbystate.zip). Includes all names with 5 or more occurrences per state per year; rarer names are excluded for privacy.