Fun Facts About the Name Arjan
- More than 1 thousand babies named Arjan: U.S. records list 1,001 babies given the name Arjan from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Arjan Mean?
Arjan is the Dutch and Frisian form of Adrian (Dutch Adriaan). Both go back to the Latin Hadrianus, a Roman family name meaning "from Hadria" - Hadria being a town in central Italy, now Atri, near the Adriatic coast. The earlier origin of the town's own name is uncertain.
In South Asia, especially in Punjabi and Sikh families, Arjan is a form of the Sanskrit Arjuna, which means "white," "bright," or "shining." Arjuna comes from an Indo-European root meaning "to shine" or "to be white," the same root behind Latin argentum "silver" and Greek argyros "silver." The Sanskrit word is also the name of the Terminalia arjuna tree, whose pale bark is used in traditional Indian medicine.
The Dutch name and the South Asian name look alike but are not related.
Arjan Name History & Origins
Dutch Arjan is a shortened, spoken form of the Latin Adrianus, which survives in Dutch as the fuller Adriaan. Adrianus was in use in the Low Countries from the Middle Ages onward, helped by the cult of Saint Adrian of Nicomedia, a Roman officer martyred around 306, whose veneration spread through northern Europe. The name also had a notable Dutch bearer in Adrian VI, the Utrecht-born pope who reigned from 1522 to 1523. Arjan fits a familiar Dutch and Frisian habit of clipping long Latin names; related short forms include Arjen and Arie.
The South Asian Arjan derives from Arjuna, one of the five Pandava brothers in the Sanskrit epic Mahabharata and the warrior to whom Krishna speaks in the Bhagavad Gita. In Punjabi the name is usually written and said as Arjan. Its best-known bearer is Guru Arjan (1563 - 1606), the fifth Sikh Guru, who compiled the Adi Granth and was put to death under the Mughal emperor Jahangir, becoming the first of the Sikh Gurus to be martyred. The name remains in use in Punjab and among Sikhs elsewhere.
How Popular is the Name Arjan?
Arjan 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 2025. Its best rank was #1,492 in 2025.
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 | #1,492 | 118 | 0.0069% |
| 2024 | #1,606 | 106 | 0.0062% |
| 2023 | #2,189 | 65 | 0.0038% |
| 2022 | #2,116 | 70 | 0.0040% |
| 2021 | #2,501 | 53 | 0.0030% |
| 2020 | #2,805 | 43 | 0.0025% |
| 2019 | #3,105 | 38 | 0.0021% |
| 2018 | #3,110 | 37 | 0.0020% |
| 2017 | #2,677 | 46 | 0.0025% |
| 2016 | #3,780 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2015 | #3,785 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2014 | #3,239 | 34 | 0.0018% |
| 2013 | #4,329 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 2012 | #3,719 | 28 | 0.0015% |
| 2011 | #3,369 | 32 | 0.0017% |
| 2010 | #3,311 | 33 | 0.0017% |
| 2009 | #3,277 | 34 | 0.0017% |
| 2008 | #4,549 | 21 | 0.0010% |
| 2007 | #4,385 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 2006 | #4,232 | 22 | 0.0011% |
| 2005 | #5,592 | 14 | 0.0007% |
| 2004 | #5,265 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 2003 | #6,290 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 2002 | #6,569 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 2001 | #7,570 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 2000 | #5,949 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1999 | #6,569 | 9 | 0.0005% |
| 1997 | #6,649 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1996 | #7,186 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1995 | #8,957 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1994 | #5,481 | 10 | 0.0005% |
| 1992 | #6,169 | 8 | 0.0004% |
| 1990 | #8,190 | 5 | 0.0002% |
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 Arjan 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.
✦ Arjan's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Arjan's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.