Arthur
Top 1000
About Arthur
Arthur, once the shining head of the Knights of the Round Table, is, after decades of neglect, now being polished up and restored by stylish parents, inspired perhaps by the new generation of royals. Arthur has led the list of possible names for the young British princes, chosen as a middle name for Prince Louis, son of William and Catherine, Prince and Princess of Wales.
In addition to its leading role in the Arthurian legends, Arthurs figure prominently in Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, Edgar Allan Poe's The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket and George Eliot's Adam Bede. There are also countless Arthurs in children's literature, movies, and TV -- including The Fonz of Happy Days fame. More recently, Arthur was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Santa in the eponymous movie Arthur Christmas.
Arthur has many notable namesakes, including playwright Arthur Miller; writer/astronomer Arthur C. Clarke; writers Arthur Conan Doyle, Arthur Rimbaud and Arthur Koestler; philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer; conductor Arthur Fiedler; and tennis great Arthur Ashe, the first African American to win the U.S. Open. Queen Victoria's seventh child was Prince Arthur.
Arthur was a Top 20 name from at least 1880 through 1926. And in 2011, actress Selma Blair named her son Arthur Saint.
As of October 2026, Arthur ranked #87 in US births in 2025 SSA, peaked at #14 in 1887, Nameberry popularity #26.
Editor's take: The name Arthur is a boy's name of Celtic origin meaning " bear".
Popularity & trends
Data table
| Year | US rank | Births | Per million |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 | #306 | 1,153 | 600.2 |
| 2015 | #292 | 1,247 | 650.6 |
| 2016 | #273 | 1,345 | 708.7 |
| 2017 | #245 | 1,514 | 818 |
| 2018 | #229 | 1,653 | 910.2 |
| 2019 | #177 | 2,193 | 1,222.3 |
| 2020 | #163 | 2,335 | 1,352.8 |
| 2021 | #155 | 2,475 | 1,414.7 |
| 2022 | #140 | 2,689 | 1,540.1 |
| 2023 | #130 | 2,830 | 1,654.4 |
| 2024 | #105 | 3,318 | 1,925.8 |
| 2025 | #87 | 3,847 | 2,252.2 |
World rankings
Similar names
These 20 names were selected by our users looking for other names like Arthur.
- Oscar
- Hugo
- Louis
- Simon
- Frederick
- George
- Edmund
- Walter
- Lawrie
- Alfred
- Edward
- Theodore
- Rupert
- Gordie
- Felix
- Harry
- Sebastian
- Vincent
- Charles
- Francis
Arthur on lists
Famous Arthurs
- Arthur I
Duke of Brittany, claimant to the English throne
- Arthur Tudor
Prince of Wales, elder brother of King Henry VIII of England, one,time heir apparent
- Arthur Wellesley
1st Duke of Wellington, Anglo,Irish field marshal and British Prime Minister,
- Arthur Wellesley
2nd,5th Dukes of Wellington
- Arthur William Patrick Albert
Prince of the UK; Duke of Connaught and Strathairn; Governor,General of Canada; son of Queen Victoria
- Arthur Frederick Patrick Albert
Prince of Connaught; Governor,General of South Africa; grandson of Queen Victoria
- Arthur Conan Doyle
Scottish physician and novelist
- Arthur Nixon
brother of U.S. President Richard Nixon
- Arthur Robert Ashe
American tennis player
- (Jean Nicolas) Arthur Rimbaud
French poet
- Arthur Schopenhauer
German philosopher
- Arthur Rackham
English book illustrator
- Arthur John Evans
English archaeologist
- (Thomas) Arthur Darvill
English actor
- Arthur Asher Miller
American playwright
- Arthur Gordon "Art" Linkletter
Canadian,American TV presenter
- Arthur Ira "Art" Garfunkel
American singer of duo Simon & Garfunkel
- Arthur Rubinstein
Polish,American pianist
- Arthur Wontner
English actor
- Arthur Gordon Webster
founder of the American Physical Society
- Arthur Robert Morris
Australian cricketer
- Arthur Lewis Watkins Sifton
Canadian politician, 2nd Premier of Alberta
- Arthur Ernest Percival
English Army general
- Arthur Edward Robert Gilligan
English cricketer
- Arthur Webb Mold
English cricketer
- Arthur William Radford
American Navy admiral
- Arthur Joseph "Monkey" Gould
Welsh rugby union player
- Arthur Kelly
English actor
- Gerard Arthur Way
American musician of band My Chemical Romance
- Arthur Cave (b. 2000)
late son of singer Nick Cave; twin brother Earl
- Arthur Clutterbuck (b. 2010)
son of actor Andrew Lincoln
- Arthur Amidon (b. 2011)
son of singers Sam Amidon and Beth Orton
- Arthur Saint Bleick (b. 2011)
son of actress Selma Blair
- Arthur Elliot (b. 2012)
son of Ben Elliot and Mary,Clare Winwood; great,nephew of the Duchess of Cornwall; grandson of musician Steve Winwood
- Arthur Michael William Matthews (b. 2018)
son of Pippa Middleton and James Matthews; nephew of Kate Middleton, Duchess of Cambridge
- Arthur "Bryce" Courtenay
novelist
Arthur in pop culture
- Arthur Pendragon
legendary King of England
- Arthur Read
aardvark main character of the Arthur book and TV series
- Arthur “Boo” Radley
character in ‘To Kill a Mockingbird’
- Arthur Fonzarelli
aka The Fonz, character on TV's ‘Happy Days’
- Arthur Weasley
character in the ‘Harry Potter’ series
- Arthur
character in the 2010 American movie ‘Inception’
- Uncle Arthur
character on the television show ‘Bewitched’
- Arthur “Art” Bell
character on TV's ‘Orphan Black’
- Arthur Clennam
character in ‘Little Dorrit’, written by Charles Dickens
- Arthur Koblenz Dallas
character in ‘Alien’
- Arthur Dimmesdale
fictional character in ‘The Scarlet Letter’
- Arthur Donnithorne
fictional character in George Eliot’s ‘Adam Bede’
- Arthur “Art” Douglas
aka Drax the Destroyer, character in Marvel Comics
- Arthur Dent
character in Douglas Adams’ book ‘The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy’
- Arthur Goring
character in Oscar Wilde’s ‘An Ideal Husband’
- Arthur Hackett
character on the American television show ‘Pretty Little Liars’
- Arthur Kirkland
personification of the United Kingdom in the manga and anime series ‘Axis Powers: Hetalia’
- Arthur Leander
character in the novel ‘Station Eleven’
- Arthur Mitchell aka the Trinity Killer
character in the American television show ‘Dexter’
- Arthur “Artie” Nielsen
fictional character in the American television series ‘Warehouse 13’
- Arthur Poe
character in ‘A Series of Unfortunate Events’
- Arthur Saltweather
character in the Jenny Nimmo’s ‘The Children of the Red King’ series
- Arthur Spiderwick
character in ‘The Spiderwick Chronicles’
- Arthur Eugene Spooner
character on TV's ‘The King of Queens’
- Arthur Curry aka Orin and Aquaman
character in DC Universe
- Arthur Reeves
character in DC Comics
- Arthur Hastings
character in "We Happy Few"
- Arthur Morgan
fictional character in ‘Red Dead Redemption II’
- Arthur
character from the video game "Fire Emblem Fates"
- Arthur Hoggett
character in book/film 'Babe'
- Arthur the bartender
character in the Comic strip "The Lockhorns"
- Arthur Jeffries
character on "Young Sheldon" a scientist who plays the title character of Professor Proton, Sheldon's favorite educational television series. Newhart reprises his portrayal of the character from The Big Bang Theory.
- Arthur Fleck aka The Joker
main character in the 2019 film "Joker" '
- Arthur Huntingdon
character in "The Tenant of Wildfell Hall" by Anne Brontë
- "King Arthur and King Cornwall"
A ballad in the 19th century collection "The Child Ballads"
Variations & nicknames
- ArturIrish
- ArtekFinnish
- ArtusFrench
- ArtisCzech
- ArtairScottish Gaelic
- ArturekPolish
- ThanosGreek
- AnthanasiosGreek
- ArturoItalian
- ArtoFinnish
More nicknames
- Art
- Artie
- Teddy