Arek

#9,787 in 2025Boys' name

Diminutive of Arkadiusz

Arek has been given to 380 babies in the U.S. since 1971. In 2025 it ranked #9,787 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2003, with 21 recorded.

Babies named Arek, 2025

1 in 474,000

Arek over time, 1880–2025

Boys

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Arek: meaning, origin, and history

Diminutive of Arkadiusz

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Arek means

Arek is a diminutive of Arkadiusz.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Arkadiusz.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 380 boys were recorded with the name Arek between 1971 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 21 in 2003; its best national rank was #3,982 in 2003.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #6,648 in 2020 to #9,787 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #6,010 in 2015 to #9,787 in 2025.

Sources & methodologyReferences, data & attribution

Meaning, origin, and language notes draw on the references below.

American popularity figures use published Social Security Administration records for this exact spelling. Counts below five for a name, sex, and year are omitted.

U.S. Social Security Administration: national name data and limitations

How common is Arek?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025: 1 in 474,000; 7 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only: 1 in 244,000; <0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025: #9,787; of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size: 328,272 kids; Even odds of a second one

Where Arek sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%

Class of 30Under 1%

Grade of 100Under 1%

School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 328,272 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Arek. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Areks were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Arek was born before 2004 — so the typical Arek is around 21 today.

Median birth year: 2004; About 21 years old
Biggest decade: 2000s; 28.4% of all use
Born in the last 25 years: 62.1%; A modern name
Recorded since 1950: 380; People you could plausibly meet

Choose a decade

2000s — 28.4% of all recorded uses (108).

Is Arek rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago: +190; Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago: −3,139; Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago: −3,777; Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago: 0.50×; Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak: 33.3%; Peak was 2003 (21)
Years since peak: 22; Years
Year-to-year steadiness: Volatile; 35.7% average annual change
Best rank ever: #3,982; 2003

Spellings of Arek

Arek is not the most common spelling — Mark is, with 39.2% against Arek's 0.01%.

Mark39.2%1,362,176
Fred9.9%343,655
Alex8.2%286,169
Derek6.9%239,060
Jared5.9%206,351
Erik4.5%157,461
Drew2.3%78,592
Greg2.2%77,706

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Arek is used

Across 1910–2025, Arek was most concentrated in California — about 1 in — boys, against 1 in 622,597 across all states with data.

00 per 100,000

State popularity map

Most concentrated

1California1 in —

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings. Arek has too little recent state data to map, so this covers all years from 1910.

Arek around the world

Where Arek ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

Canada
2015–2024
#3,231
in 2024

Popularity data from Statistics Canada. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Arek by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025: #9,787
Trend vs 5 yrs ago: Down 3,139
Best rank ever: #3,982; 2003
Peak year: 2003; 21 that year
First recorded: 1971
Last recorded: 2025
All-time count: 380
Count in 2025: 7

Names similar to Arek

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

Arel Areg Areeb Aren Areli Arez Brek Narek Aref Arend Erek Zarek Ares Merek Darek Jarek Areon Jerek Areez Terek Zerek Trek Tyrek Tarek

Sibling names for Arek

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

For a sister

Gabriel Shakira Sydnie Madisen Sydnee Lesli Reanna Cydney

For a brother

Jarod Keven Zakary Kale Garret Samual Donavon Shamar

Explore around Arek

Top names of 2003, Arek's peak year The 2000s in full Other names that peaked in 2003 Boys' names starting with A