Humanverse

Arrington vs Arrow

American parents have registered 2,575 Arrows since 1880, against 749 Arringtons. Arrow is still ahead, with 113 babies in 2025.

Babies given each name, 1880–2025

Births per year: Arrington against Arrow, 1880 to 2025 0 80 160 240 320 1880 1900 1920 1940 1960 1980 2000 2020

Arrington Arrow

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 50 years in which either name was published, Arrington for 32 years and Arrow for 18 years. The lead changed hands 7 times.

Side by side

  Arrington Arrow
Total US births 7492,575
Most in one year 32283
Babies in 2025 15113
Estimated living today 7302,600
Median age today 206
Peak year 20052018
Best rank 4,464th boys1,122nd boys
Rank in 2025 8,243rd1,976th
First recorded 19701971
Girls / boys 239 / 510858 / 1,717

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 Arringtons alive today are over 20; half the Arrows are over 6. That is 14 years between them: two names in use at the same time, worn by two different generations.

Compare something else

Related comparisons

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