How Many People Are Named Ariel?
people named Ariel are alive in the United States today (estimate)
About 1 in 3,480 people in the US has this name
Based on 100,665 babies named Ariel in Social Security records from 1892 to 2025, and the share of each birth year still alive in 2025.
Popularity Rank
💎 Rare
Peak Year
6,077 births
Trend
Declining (last 10 years)
📖 Name Origin & Meaning
Meaning:
Means "lion of God" in Hebrew. In the Old Testament it is used as another name for the city of Jerusalem. Shakespeare used it as the name of a spirit in his play 'The Tempest' (1611), and one of the moons of Uranus bears this name in his honour. As an English name, it became more common for females in the 1980s, especially after it was used for the title character in the Walt Disney film 'The Little Mermaid' (1989).
Source of the meaning, origin, pronunciation and related names: Behind the Name.
⚧ Gender Distribution
Of the babies given the name Ariel, 78.5% were girls and 21.5% were boys. The share has stayed close to this since the 1910s: 77.6% of the babies were girls then and 68.9% in the 2020s.
👥 Age Distribution
The average person named Ariel alive today is about 22 years old, and 65% are under 30. Half of them were between 11 and 33 in 2025.
📈 Popularity Over Time
Ariel first appears in the records in 1892 and was given most often in 1991, to 6,077 babies. In 2025, 1,384 babies got the name. Over the last ten years, the number each year has been falling.
Babies given the name each year, 1892 to 2025
🏆 Rank History
Ariel never made the top 10 girls' names. Its best rank was #66, in 1991, and it was in the top 100 for 3 years, 1990 to 1992. In 2025 it ranked #356. Among boys, its best rank was #360, in 1991.
| Girls | Boys | |
|---|---|---|
| Rank in 2025 | #356 | #558 |
| Best rank | #66 (1991) | #360 (1991) |
| Years in the top 100 | 3 (1990 to 1992) | None |
| Rank in its biggest decade | #115 in the 1990s | #474 in the 1990s |
📍 State-Wise Distribution
People named Ariel alive today, by the state where they were born (estimate; state records start in 1910).
More people named Ariel were born in California than in any other state: about 15,364 of those alive today. Compared with the national rate in the same years, Ariel was given about 1.5 times as often in Mississippi, New Mexico and New York.
Look up another name
⊙ We don't save the names you search.