Recorded 1909–2025 · United States
Arlen was most popular in 1934, when 215 American babies were given the name — ranking #802 that year. In 2025 it ranked #2,973, with 129 births. Across 1880–2025 the Social Security Administration has recorded 8,154 people named Arlen.
Arlen first appears in Social Security Administration records in 1909, which makes it about 116 years old as a recorded American name. It has been recorded in 114 of the 117 years since.
The Social Security Administration has recorded 8,154 American births named Arlen between 1880 and 2025. That is recorded US births, not a world population — it counts people issued a Social Security number at birth in the United States. Of those, roughly 5,093 are estimated to be alive today.
129 American babies were named Arlen in 2025, ranking #2,973 that year.
Arlen is rising. Across 2021–2025 it averaged 116 births a year, against 65 a year across 2011–2015 — a change of +79% over the decade.
Measured on recorded births. American births overall have fallen since 2007, so most established names lose births over any recent decade — a name can shed births and still hold its rank. Compare the rank above, which is measured against the other names of the same year.
Across the whole record Arlen is mostly a boy’s name — 9.9% of the 8,154 Americans given it were girls and 90.1% were boys. It changed hands: since 2001 it has gone mainly to boys, having gone mainly to girls before that. In births since 2016 it is 20% girls and 80% boys.
Counted from every US birth the Social Security Administration recorded under this name, so it reflects use rather than opinion. A name given to fewer than five babies of one sex in a year is withheld at source and is not counted.
Roughly 5,093 Americans named Arlen are alive today — 62% of everyone ever recorded with the name. The median is 43 years old, and half are between 15 and 70. That is a wide band, the mark of a name in steady use across generations rather than a passing fashion.
An estimate, not a count. Recorded births are carried forward through the Social Security Administration’s 2023 period life table, by age and sex. That table describes mortality in one recent year, so it credits the oldest cohorts with today’s survival rather than the harsher rates they actually lived through — the further back a name peaked, the more this will overstate how many remain. It counts people issued a Social Security number at birth, not immigrants who arrived later.
How much more common the name is in each state than across the country as a whole.
See Arlen on the interactive charts
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Source: U.S.A. Social Security Administration. Years 1880–2025. namelegacy.org