Arden

Arden, the name of the magical forest in Shakespeare's As You Like It, is a stylish A name with a strong, straightforward image. Another reason to love Arden: its similarity to "ardent." Arden is solidly unisex, with the current gender distribution running about 49 percent girls and 51 percent boys.

A locational surname name deriving from several places in England, there are multiple legitimate derivations for this name. One is from Old English earn "eagle" + denu "valley", while another is from the Celtic ard meaning "high".

As a girl name, Arden has been flirting with the bottom of the Top 1000 for a number of years, just missing out in a recent count when it was given to 237 girls. A solid Nameberry favorite, it currently ranks in the UK Top 800 for boys, where is leans notably more masculine (15:85)

Arden is more familiar as a surname, as in cosmetics entrepreneur Elizabeth and actress Eve, and the narrative poem by Tennyson, Enoch Arden, along with Shakespeare's mother, Mary Arden.

A notable first name bearer is Arden Cho, actress and singer, and the voice of a lead character in hit movie, KPOP Demon Hunters, while social media influencer Lacey Douthat (of The Glitter Gospel) named her daughter Arden Laine in 2025.

Pronounced AHR-den .

As of October 2026, Arden ranked #975 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #738 in 1930, Nameberry popularity #181.