Ariel Boy & girl
How popular is Ariel?
#355 girl name in 2025
851 baby girls were named Ariel in the US in 2025, making it the 355th most popular girl name. Another 533 boys got the name (#558 for boys).
Ariel popularity over time
Boys Girls
| Rank in 2025 | #355 for girls (▼ 55 from 2024) |
|---|---|
| Babies in 2025 | 851 girls, 533 boys |
| 10-year trend | Falling fast (-64% babies vs 2015) |
| Earlier ranks | #137 in 2015, #199 in 2020 |
| Peak year | 1991 (5,411 girls) |
| Highest rank | #66 in 1991 |
| First recorded | 1892 |
| Boys vs girls (last 10 years) | 27% boys, 73% girls |
| Chance a classmate shares it | 1.0% in a class of 25 kids born in 2025 |
Ariel counting every spelling
Social Security counts each spelling as its own name. Adding together the spellings that sound alike, the Ariel family of names ranked #220 for girls in 2025 (#197 the year before), with 1,515 babies in all.
| Spelling | Girls in 2025 | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Ariel | 851 | 56% |
| Arielle | 618 | 41% |
| Aryelle | 14 | 1% |
| Aryel | 8 | 1% |
| Ariell | 11 | 1% |
| Arial | 8 | 1% |
| Ariele | 5 | 0% |
Spellings are grouped by how they sound, using our own rules, so a few groupings may not match how your family says the name.
Where Ariel is most popular
Babies named Ariel per 1,000 girls born in each state, 2021 to 2025. Darker means more common.
- Alaska: 2.0 per 1,000 (17 girls)
- New Mexico: 2.0 per 1,000 (48 girls)
- Nevada: 1.5 per 1,000 (69 girls)
- California: 1.3 per 1,000 (1,084 girls)
- District of Columbia: 1.3 per 1,000 (15 girls)
Ariel by decade
| Decade | Baby girls | Best rank |
|---|---|---|
| 1890s | 15 | #1,450 |
| 1900s | 52 | #1,203 |
| 1910s | 156 | #1,241 |
| 1920s | 129 | #1,816 |
| 1930s | 83 | #2,520 |
| 1940s | 86 | #2,250 |
| 1950s | 63 | #3,660 |
| 1960s | 139 | #2,350 |
| 1970s | 717 | #895 |
| 1980s | 6,353 | #209 |
| 1990s | 28,142 | #66 |
| 2000s | 16,265 | #184 |
| 2010s | 19,377 | #132 |
| 2020s | 7,120 | #199 |
Girl names about as popular as Ariel
Questions
- Is Ariel a boy or girl name?
- Ariel is used for both. Over the last 10 years, 27% of babies named Ariel were boys and 73% were girls.
- How popular is the name Ariel?
- 851 baby girls were named Ariel in the US in 2025, making it the 355th most popular girl name. Another 533 boys got the name (#558 for boys).
- When was Ariel most popular?
- Ariel peaked in 1991, when 5,411 girls were given the name. Its highest rank was #66 in 1991.
- How many people are named Ariel?
- 100,665 babies have been named Ariel in the US since 1880. We estimate about 98,400 of them are alive in 2026, with a median age of 24.
- Where is Ariel most popular?
- From 2021 to 2025, Ariel was most common in Alaska, at 2.0 of every 1,000 girls born there.
Source: Social Security Administration baby name data, 1880 to 2025 (names given to at least 5 babies of a sex in a year). Living-people and median-age figures are our estimates using US life tables. How we calculate.