Boy · Germanic, through Norman French
Arnold
Say it: AR-nuld
Meaning
From Germanic arn 'eagle' and wald 'rule'.
Certainscholars agree on this meaning.
A Norman name revived in the 19th century.
Its wave through time
Fading since the 1910s
In the United States
- 103,836 babies given this name since 1880
- At its height in 1916, about 1 in 479 boys
- 87 babies in 2020
Through the ages
- The High and Late Middle Ages1100 to 1450
- Victorian and Belle Époque1837 to 1914
- The Modern Age1880 to today
Used by
The family of the name
Other spellings: Arnie
| German | Arnold |
|---|---|
| French | Arnaud |
| Italian | Arnaldo |
| Spanish | Arnaldo |
| Dutch | Arnout |
Famous bearers
- Arnold Schoenberg, composer
- Arnold of Brescia, reformer
Names worth a look
Where this comes from
- The Domesday Book (1086) source
- National census records of the 19th and 20th centuries
- United States Social Security birth records, 1880 to today source
Meanings and histories are compiled from the study of names and their languages and checked by a second review.
Meanings and histories are drawn from the study of names and their languages, each with a confidence rating; popularity figures come from official birth records. Name histories are a living field: if you know of a correction, we would be glad to hear it.