Arthur

Spellings & scripts●

Spellings marked ● are how people bearing the name write it in our records; ○ marks a model's transliteration. Click a spelling to open its page.

Meaning & origin●

Attested across 13 languages in the etymology graph.

Languages●

Language is read off each record's context, not declared by the bearer; a share is of all records for this spelling.

Other names spelled this way◐

Arthur is also recorded as 6 other names, grouped separately because the records behind them do not connect to the one described above.

• Portuguese given name5.1M records spelled Arthur30 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Brazil, United States, Philippines, Argentina

  Languages: Portuguese, Spanish

  Also written Árthur, Arthür, Ärthür, Arthųr, Arthúr

• French given name840K records spelled Arthur5 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in France, United States, Belgium, Philippines

  Also written Arthür, Ãrthur, Arthùr

• a separate given name76K records spelled Arthur3 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, United Kingdom, India, Canada

  Also written Ārthur, Árthur

• Arabic given name43K records spelled Arthur11 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in United States, Israel, Egypt, Oman

  Languages: Arabic, Hebrew, Amharic

  Also written ארתור, ארטור, ארטורו, ארתורו, Arturo

• Russian given name37K records spelled Arthur78 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in Russia, Poland, Ukraine, Kazakhstan

  Languages: Russian, Polish, Ukrainian

  Also written Артур, Artur, Артурс, Arturs, 'Artur

• Hindi given name22K records spelled Arthur41 spellings in the group

  Most recorded in India, United States, United Kingdom, Canada

  Languages: Hindi, Urdu, Bangla

  Also written Atar, Ataru, আতার, Arther, Arthar

100 further groups record this spelling and are not listed here.

Grouping is the name graph's, not a register's: two spellings join a group when the evidence links them, so a group is a claim about the records rather than about the people.

Other recorded senses●

Arthur is also recorded in 5 other lexicons, as a different name or as an ordinary word. These are senses of the spelling, not of the name above.

• In English, From the personal name Arthur < Old English for ‘bear, bearlike’; surname recorded from 16th c., e.g. Thomas Harthawr, Angus, 1511. Gaelic MacArtair in Argyll before 1300.

  as a name·Scottish Surnames

• In French, Possibly Celtic; etymology uncertain, sometimes linked to 'bear'.

  as a name·Le grand guide des prénoms (Enfant - Education)

• In English, Doubtful origin, perhaps Celtic or Roman; legendary king of the Britons. An Irish Arthur is mentioned by St Adamnan.

  as a name·Irish first names

• In English, from Arthur (L. Artorius); earliest cited in CaernSubsAcct 1293 as dai ab arthur

  as a name·Welsh Surnames

• In English, Cornish; from Old French, ultimately Latin: bear. Masculine form of Ursula.

  as a name·Baby names, 25,350 baby names nicknames for your family, friends pets, including the top 100 names, 2,000 most popular…

Ordered by how much of this spelling's record each language holds, so a sense from a language the name is barely used in sits last rather than first.

Over time●

US SSA — National Baby Names (1880–present) — 146 years between 1880–2025. One register's own figures, never a sum across registers: two registers counting the same people would double them.

Notable people with this name●

• Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellingtonb. 1769IEBritish Field Marshal, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, 1828–1830, 1834 (1769-1852)
• Arthur Balfourb. 1848GBBritish Prime Minister, Conservative politician, and statesman (1848-1930)
• Neville Chamberlainb. 1869GBnot in their usual namePrime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1937 to 1940
• Arthur Holly Comptonb. 1892USAmerican physicist (1892–1962)
• John Gielgudb. 1904GBnot in their usual nameBritish actor and theatre director (1904-2000)
• Art Carneyb. 1918USnot in their usual nameAmerican actor and comedian (1918–2003)
• Jack Brabhamb. 1926AUnot in their usual nameAustralian racing driver (1926–2014)
• Christopher Plummerb. 1929CAnot in their usual nameCanadian actor (1929–2021)
• Steven Pinkerb. 1954USnot in their usual nameCanadian-American cognitive psychologist, linguist, and author, an advocate of evolutionary psychology and the computational theory of the mind
• Gerard Wayb. 1977USnot in their usual nameAmerican singer (born 1977)

The ten people covered by the most Wikipedia language editions — a proxy for cross-cultural notability, which favours historical and Western figures over equally prominent contemporary ones — shown by birth year. Source: Wikidata (CC0).

Evidence●

Register rows as of the 2026-09-12 data build · 1,825 rows in the corpus for this spelling.

Frequently asked questions

How common is the name Arthur?

We estimate roughly 980 thousand people bear Arthur (counting its spellings and scripts) across 13 countries in our records.

In which country does Arthur have the most bearers?

We estimate about 618 thousand people bear Arthur in Brazil, more than in any other country in our records, where it is most often spelled arthur.

Where is Arthur most common?

Arthur is densest in Brazil, where the national register counts about 1 in 343 people carrying it.

How common is Arthur compared with other names?

In Brazil, Arthur is the 662nd most common given name of 536,280 given names recorded there.

Is Arthur a male or female name?

Arthur is a male name in our records. Opposite-gender entries fall within the cross-gender noise we measure in the source data, so we don't report them as usage.

What does the name Arthur mean?

Recorded meaning: From the male personal name Arthur, of Celtic origin and uncertain meaning, perhaps ‘bear’.