English 
Chinese 
Dutch 
Arabic 
Spanish 
Portuguese 
Russian 
French 
Italian 
German 
Japanese No one named Arlene appears in the Bible. Arlene is a spelling of Arline, a name whose meaning is unknown. It may have been invented for the heroine of The Bohemian Girl, an opera by the Irish composer Michael William Balfe that opened in London in 1843. The name has no Hebrew or biblical meaning.
Where does the name Arlene come from?
Behind the Name, a standard reference on given names, lists Arlene as a variant of Arline and notes that it has been the usual spelling since the early 20th century. It gives the meaning of Arline as unknown and suggests that Balfe may have made the name up for the main character of his opera.
In The Bohemian Girl, Arline is the infant daughter of Count Arnheim. A band of gypsies carries her off, she grows up among them, and twelve years later her father recognizes her by a scar on her arm. Her aria “I Dreamt I Dwelt in Marble Halls,” in which she recalls her childhood, became the best-known song in the opera. The first production ran for more than 100 nights at the Drury Lane Theatre, and the opera reached New York, Dublin and Philadelphia the next year.
In the United States, Arline entered the list of the 1,000 most common names for girls in 1883, and Arlene in 1888. Arlene is pronounced ar-LEEN.
Does Arlene mean “pledge”?
Many baby-name websites say that Arlene is Irish or Scottish Gaelic for “pledge” or “oath,” and some say it means “pledge to Saint Patrick.” Behind the Name records no Gaelic origin for either spelling and gives the meaning as unknown. Spiritual meanings built on “pledge,” such as faithfulness to a promise, rest on that unsupported derivation.
Other sources call Arlene a variant of Charlene or Marlene. The dates make that unlikely. Arlene was among the 1,000 most common American girls’ names by 1888, nearly twenty years before Charlene, a feminine form of Charles, joined that list, and more than thirty years before Marlene did. Marlene does have a root in Scripture: it joins Maria and Magdalene, after Mary Magdalene, one of the women who traveled with Jesus (Luke 8:2).
Is Arlene a Hebrew name?
No. Arlene has no Hebrew form and no Hebrew meaning, and no name in the Old or New Testament is related to it. Its earliest known use is in an English-language opera, and the name is used today mainly in English-speaking countries and in the Philippines.
How popular is Arlene?
Arlene rose steadily in the early 20th century. It ranked among the 100 most common names for American girls in most years from 1931 to 1945 and reached its highest place, 53rd, in 1934. It declined after the Second World War and dropped out of the top 1,000 after 2005. Arline, the older spelling, last appeared on the list in 1953.
Leave a Reply