| Arjun | Aryan | |
|---|---|---|
| Meaning | Bright; shining white | Noble |
| Origin | sanskrit | sanskrit |
| Gender | Boy | Boy |
| Pronunciation | AR-jun | AR-yun |
| Syllables | 2 | 2 |
| First appeared | 1967 | 1978 |
| Peak year | 2014 (650) | 2007 (406) |
| In 2025 | 615 | 275 |
| Trend | Rising | Steady |
Source: US Social Security Administration.
| Decade | Arjun | Aryan |
|---|---|---|
| 2020s | 3,058 | 1,835 |
| 2010s | 5,486 | 3,347 |
| 2000s | 2,433 | 2,594 |
| 1990s | 908 | 254 |
| 1980s | 245 | 71 |
| 1970s | 34 | 5 |
| 1960s | 12 | 0 |
From Sanskrit arjuna (अर्जुन), 'white, bright, silvery, clear'. Best known as the heroic third Pandava prince and Krishna's friend in the Mahabharata; the literal root sense is 'shining/white' rather than 'warrior'.
From Sanskrit arya (आर्य), 'noble, honourable, worthy'. The original sense is one of nobility and virtue; it is unrelated to later misappropriations of the term.
Arjun is more popular than Aryan today: about 615 US babies were given the name Arjun in 2025, compared with 275 named Aryan.
Arjun means Bright; shining white (sanskrit origin), while Aryan means Noble (sanskrit origin).
In US records, Arjun first appears in 1967 and Aryan in 1978, so Arjun has the longer recorded history.