Fun Facts About the Name Arek
- 380 babies named Arek: U.S. records list 380 babies given the name Arek from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Arek Mean?
Arek is best known as a Polish given name meaning "of Arcadia" or "Arcadian." It is a familiar short form of Arkadiusz, the Polish form of Latin Arcadius and Greek Arkadios, which were themselves formed from Arkadia, the mountainous region of the central Peloponnese in Greece. Used as a personal name, the Greek word was essentially geographic: it identified someone from Arcadia, or someone regarded as Arcadian. The origin of the place name Arkadia is not settled. It is traditionally connected with Arkas, a figure in Greek myth, and one proposed explanation links it to Greek arktos, "bear."
Arek also exists independently as an Armenian masculine name, from Armenian արեգ (areg), a poetic word for the sun related to արեւ (arev), "sun." In that use the meaning is simply "sun." The Polish and Armenian names look alike but have no shared origin.
Arek Name History & Origins
The Polish name came through Latin Arcadius, which was borne in late antiquity by the Eastern Roman emperor Arcadius, who ruled from 395 to 408, and by several early Christian saints. Polish took the name up as Arkadiusz; Arek is the everyday short form used in speech, and it is also registered in Poland as a given name in its own right.
Armenian Arek, more often written Areg, developed separately from the Armenian word for the sun, which appears in poetry as a poetic term for the sun alongside the more everyday arev. It is used as a male given name in Armenia and among Armenian communities elsewhere.
How Popular is the Name Arek?
Arek has historically been an exceptionally rare given name in the United States, remaining well outside the national mainstream. It saw its highest recorded annual births in 2003. Its best rank was #3,987 in 2003.
U.S. name popularity from 1880-2025, based on SSA data. Rank shows how the name compares with other names - lower numbers mean greater popularity. Births shows how many babies received the name each year.
| Year | Rank | Births | % |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | #9,791 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2024 | #9,948 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2023 | #6,908 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2022 | #6,854 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2021 | #7,629 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2020 | #6,648 | 12 | 0.0007% |
| 2019 | #7,695 | 10 | 0.0006% |
| 2018 | #9,746 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2016 | #5,332 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 2015 | #6,013 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2014 | #6,657 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2013 | #8,159 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 2012 | #9,783 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2010 | #8,860 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2008 | #11,154 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 2007 | #5,923 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2006 | #6,484 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 2005 | #7,145 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2004 | #8,990 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 2003 | #3,987 | 21 | 0.0011% |
| 2002 | #7,694 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2001 | #5,158 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2000 | #4,592 | 16 | 0.0008% |
| 1999 | #7,190 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1998 | #6,887 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1997 | #4,980 | 12 | 0.0006% |
| 1996 | #7,181 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #4,523 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1994 | #7,840 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1993 | #5,029 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1992 | #6,167 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1991 | #7,329 | 6 | 0.0003% |
| 1990 | #6,449 | 7 | 0.0003% |
| 1989 | #5,662 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1987 | #4,994 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1985 | #6,589 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1984 | #6,369 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1983 | #6,300 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1982 | #6,433 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1971 | #4,410 | 6 | 0.0003% |
Name popularity over more than a century, based on Social Security Administration data. Gaps in the chart indicate years when the name does not appear in the published records.
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How the Name Arek Shapes Your Personality and Life?
Powerful and complete. You are good intellectually and require several outlets for your energies. You are not a builder but a planner, and you want others to carry out your plans. You are bold, independent, inquisitive and interested in research. You know what you want and why you want it.
Position and social status is very important for you and you are always looking for way to improve your position in society. You have power and ability to chose your own destiny and achieve anything you want in life. You can expand in any direction according to your will and the set of values. You have passion for justice and belong to the position of authority. You have an inherent courage and endurance to accomplish "The Impossible Dream". With the power comes responsibility. You hold keys to the material world, but with this gift comes high spiritual responsibility to be fair and true to others. You are philosophical and mature, determined and intense with a desire to endure, often religious.
✦ Arek's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Arek's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.