Explore the Family Name Arakelian

The meaning of Arakelian

Armenian: patronymic from the personal name Arakel, literally ‘sent’, i.e. ‘apostle’ (arakʿeal in Armenian), a calque on the Greek word apostolos and the name Apostolos. This form of the surname is found mainly in the US and Iran. Compare Arakelyan. Some characteristic forenames: Armenian Agop, Haig, Kevork, Sarkes, Vartan, Arakel, Aram, Ararat, Armen, Artin, Garabed, Kerop.

Dictionary of American Family Names, 2nd edition, © Oxford University Press, 2022.

How common is the last name Arakelian in the United States?

Based on data from the Decennial U.S. Census, the popularity of the surname Arakelian has seen significant growth between 2000 and 2010. In terms of ranking, it moved from the 21,369th position to being ranked at 20,541 in 2010, this indicates an upward shift of 3.87%. Concurrently, the count of individuals carrying the surname increased by 13.05%, from 1,142 in 2000 to 1,291 in 2010. The proportion per 100k also rose by 4.76% during this period.

	2000	2010	Change
Rank	#21,369	#20,541	3.87%
Count	1,142	1,291	13.05%
Proportion per 100k	0.42	0.44	4.76%

Race and Ethnicity of people with the last name Arakelian

Regarding ethnicity, the Decennial U.S. Census data shows that the majority of individuals with the Arakelian surname identified as White, with a notable increase from 91.51% in 2000 to 96.36% in 2010. The percentage of those identifying with two or more races saw a sharp decline of 66.90%, dropping from 7.01% in 2000 to just 2.32% in 2010. The proportion of those identifying as Hispanic saw a slight rise, from 0.96% to 1.08%, marking a 12.50% change. The data for Asian/Pacific Islander, Black, and American Indian and Alaskan Native identities remained constant, with either no representation or suppressed data for privacy reasons.

	2000	2010	Change
White	91.51%	96.36%	5.3%
Two or More Races	7.01%	2.32%	-66.9%
Hispanic	0.96%	1.08%	12.5%
Asian/Pacific Islander	0%	0%	0%
Black	0%	0%	0%
American Indian and Alaskan Native	0%	0%	0%