Arthur

Where Arthur comes from

From the name of the legendary king, from Middle English Arthure, from Medieval Latin Arthurus, probably from Middle Welsh arth (“bear”). Other suggestions include Old Welsh arth (“bear”) and ur (“man”), or a Latinized (Romano-British) name; compare Latin Artorius, itself possibly of Etruscan origin, or more likely Messapic-Illyrian related to Proto-Albanian *artsa (“bear”).
— Wiktionary's entry for Arthur
  • Celtic
  • 2 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1788
    Arthur Schopenhauer born
    German philosopher
  2. 1859
    Arthur Conan Doyle born
    British writer and physician
  3. 1880
    First SSA year
    Already #14 among boys — 1,599 babies in the first year on record.
  4. 1896
    Peak, #14
    1,821 babies named Arthur — more than any year before or since.
  5. 1999
    The fade
    The first year with half the peak's births — down to #320.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name from the Celtic languages.
Namesakes
  • Arthur Conan Doyle · British writer and physician, 1859–1930
  • Arthur Schopenhauer · German philosopher, 1788–1860
  • Arthur Rimbaud · French poet, 1854–1891
  • Arthur C. Clarke · British science fiction writer, inventor, and futurist, 1917–2008
  • Arthur Miller · American playwright and essayist, 1915–2005

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.