Probably Celtic artos, "bear", or Roman Artorius — bear; stone. The once and future king, first named in Welsh sources around 600.
Arthur ranks 87th among American boys in 2025, with 3,847 born that year. Its best year was 1921, when 10,579 babies were given the name, ranking 19th. The typical living American called Arthur is about 69 years old today. It is relatively most common in Vermont, where it accounts for 0.64% of births.
Source: US Social Security Administration, national and state name files, 2025 release, and the Office for National Statistics for England and Wales. Etymology researched and written by our editors. Living-population and median-age figures are our own estimates, described in the methodology.