Arlene
About Arlene
Popular in the US from the 1920s to the 1950s, Arlene is of uncertain origin and seems to be a modern innovation, perhaps based on names like Marlene and Darlene which were popular around the same time. Nowadays, the -lene names are mostly outdated, although the recent rise of retro Arlette could make Arlene seem plausible again as well.
Pronounced ar-LEEN.
As of October 2026, Arlene ranked #1632 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #53 in 1934.
Editor's take: The name Arlene is a girl's name of English origin.
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #1,487 | 150 | 84 |
| 2015 | #1,381 | 171 | 95.8 |
| 2016 | #1,524 | 148 | 83.5 |
| 2017 | #1,466 | 153 | 88.6 |
| 2018 | #1,787 | 114 | 67 |
| 2019 | #1,727 | 120 | 71.5 |
| 2020 | #1,569 | 134 | 82.9 |
| 2021 | #1,769 | 115 | 70.1 |
| 2022 | #1,740 | 119 | 72.6 |
| 2023 | #1,804 | 112 | 69.8 |
| 2024 | #1,798 | 111 | 68.5 |
| 2025 | #1,632 | 127 | 79 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Arlene.
- Alexandrea
- Christiane
- Julienne
- Justina
- Darlene
- Yolanda
- Margarita
- Shelley
- Fernanda
- Reta
- Elizabetta
- Carmela
- Sonya
- Katharina
- Charlene
- Janis
- Angelika
- Roxanna
- Lynda
- Margriet
Arlene on lists
Famous Arlenes
- Arlene Dahl
American actress
- Arlene Dickinson
Canadian businesswoman, star of TV's "Dragon's Den"
- Arlene Phillips
English choreographer and TV personality
- Arlene Francis
American actress and TV personality
- Arlene Sanford
American TV director
- Arlene Martel (born Arline Greta Sax)
American actress
- Arlene Hannah Butter
birth name of the late performance artist Hannah Wilke
Arlene in pop culture
- Annoying Arlene
minor character on "Dude, I'm In the Band"
- Arlene Lorenzo
character in the 1999 comedy film "Dick" about President Richard Nixon
- Arlene
cat character in the Garfield comics and films
- Arlene Fowler
character in the True Blood series
- Arlene Luthor
character in DC Comics