# Ari (first name)

Source: https://namelineage.com/first-name/ari/  
Publisher: Name Lineage. US counts from the Social Security Administration; England and Wales counts from the Office for National Statistics; meaning and etymology from Wiktionary. Data updated 2026-11-11.

| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| Usually given to | boys and girls |
| Origin | Hebrew |
| Meaning | “lion”, “leib” |
| Pronunciation | not recorded |
| Nicknames | none recorded |
| Variant spellings | none recorded |
| US babies named this | 28,254 since 1880 |
| Boys / girls in the US | 20,592 / 7,662 (27% girls) |
| Babies in England and Wales | 1,839, 1996 to 2025 |

## Etymology

Of the first sense, derives directly from Hebrew: אֲרִי (arí, “lion”); compare Yiddish: לייב (leyb, “Leib”), English: Leo, Leon, French: Léo, Léon, Czech: Lev, Polish: Lew, Russian: Лев (Lev), and Ukrainian: Лев (Lev).

## What it means

Ari is grouped under lion.

## Popularity

The last 15 years of each series. A year is missing when too few babies were given the name for the agency to publish it: five in the US, three in England and Wales.

### United States, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 135 | 1,600 |
| 2012 | 178 | 1,323 |
| 2013 | 228 | 1,082 |
| 2014 | 227 | 1,118 |
| 2015 | 268 | 1,005 |
| 2016 | 278 | 967 |
| 2017 | 341 | 803 |
| 2018 | 397 | 719 |
| 2019 | 505 | 600 |
| 2020 | 635 | 482 |
| 2021 | 658 | 476 |
| 2022 | 722 | 434 |
| 2023 | 666 | 462 |
| 2024 | 570 | 535 |
| 2025 | 476 | 614 |

### United States, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 510 | 508 |
| 2012 | 637 | 435 |
| 2013 | 704 | 420 |
| 2014 | 689 | 440 |
| 2015 | 771 | 402 |
| 2016 | 751 | 418 |
| 2017 | 802 | 398 |
| 2018 | 870 | 374 |
| 2019 | 860 | 371 |
| 2020 | 787 | 392 |
| 2021 | 957 | 343 |
| 2022 | 1,030 | 328 |
| 2023 | 974 | 342 |
| 2024 | 807 | 399 |
| 2025 | 808 | 393 |

### England and Wales, girls

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | 4 | 4,736 |
| 2016 | 6 | 3,609 |
| 2017 | 6 | 3,583 |
| 2018 | 5 | 3,985 |
| 2019 | 12 | 2,170 |
| 2020 | 13 | 2,042 |
| 2021 | 13 | 2,073 |
| 2022 | 25 | 1,282 |
| 2023 | 32 | 1,056 |
| 2024 | 38 | 934 |
| 2025 | 28 | 1,166 |

### England and Wales, boys

| Year | Babies | Rank |
|---|---|---|
| 2011 | 22 | 1,158 |
| 2012 | 35 | 866 |
| 2013 | 37 | 821 |
| 2014 | 40 | 781 |
| 2015 | 52 | 656 |
| 2016 | 72 | 542 |
| 2017 | 83 | 488 |
| 2018 | 87 | 465 |
| 2019 | 104 | 410 |
| 2020 | 113 | 377 |
| 2021 | 160 | 297 |
| 2022 | 181 | 260 |
| 2023 | 204 | 237 |
| 2024 | 157 | 286 |
| 2025 | 145 | 310 |

## People named Ari

- Ari Aster, American film director and screenwriter
- Ari, Brazilian-born Russian footballer (born 1985)
- Ari Koivunen, Finnish singer
- Ari Fleischer, American media consultant (born 1960)
- Ari Stidham, American actor
- Ari Hjelm, Finnish footballer and coach
- Ari Lehman, American actor
- Ari Emanuel, American businessman and CEO of Endeavor
- Ari Sulander, Finnish ice hockey player
- Ari Mannio, Finnish javelin thrower
- Ari Gold, American singer-songwriter (1974-2021)
- Ari Nyman, Finnish footballer

## How to read these numbers

A count is babies registered with that name in that year, not people alive now, so a name common a century ago can have a large total and few recent births.