Humanverse

Arleen vs Arleth

American parents have registered 12,617 Arleens since 1880, against 6,851 Arleths. But in 2025 it was Arleth that was commoner, 1,162 babies to 19.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Arleen against Arleth, 1880 to 2025 0 300 600 900 1.2k 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Arleen Arleth

Each line is every baby given the name that year, girls and boys added together — the only count that means the same thing for both names. A line breaks where the name fell below five babies in a year — the point at which the SSA stops publishing it — rather than being drawn through a figure nobody published. A single published year in a gap shows as a dot.

Who was ahead

Of the 127 years in which either name was published, Arleen for 99 years and Arleth for 28 years. The lead changed hands 3 times.

Side by side

  Arleen Arleth
Total US births 12,6176,851
Most in one year 4151,162
Babies in 2025 191,162
Estimated living today 7,5006,800
Median age today 656
Peak year 19392025
Best rank 303rd girls269th girls
Rank in 2025 6,116th269th
First recorded 18981991
Girls / boys 12,611 / 66,840 / 11

A rank is a position within one sex’s list for one year, so the two rank rows are not subtracted from one another and the winning column is not marked on them. The living figure is a life-table estimate, not a count.

Which name is older

Half of the Arleens alive today are over 65; half the Arleths are over 6. That is 59 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Where each one is strongest

How much commoner the name is in that state than it is nationally, from births recorded since 1910.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

Social Security Administration birth records, 1880–2025, public domain. Full histories: Arleen and Arleth.