Fun Facts About the Name Arjun
- More than 12 thousand babies named Arjun: U.S. records list 12,175 babies given the name Arjun from 1880 through 2025.
What Does the Name Arjun Mean?
Arjun, also written Arjuna, comes from a Sanskrit adjective, arjuna, meaning "white," "bright," or "shining." The same word is used in Sanskrit for silver, so "silver" is a customary association rather than a separate meaning. The adjective is traced to an Indo-European root meaning "to shine" or "be white," the same root behind Latin argentum ("silver") and Greek argyros ("silver"); the exact reconstructed form of that root varies among reference works.
Arjun Name History & Origins
The name is best known from the Sanskrit epic the Mahabharata, where Arjuna is the third of the five Pandava brothers, an archer trained by Drona, and the prince to whom Krishna speaks in the Bhagavad Gita. In the epic he is the son of Kunti by the god Indra, and he carries other names as well, among them Partha, Dhananjaya, and Savyasachi. Indian tradition records other bearers of the name, including Kartavirya Arjuna, a legendary Haihaya king, and arjuna is also the Sanskrit name of a tree (Terminalia arjuna) noted in medical and poetic texts.
The shorter form Arjun, without the final -a, matches the way many modern South Asian languages, including Hindi and Punjabi, drop the final short vowel of Sanskrit words. Both Arjun and Arjuna are used today in India, Nepal, and Sri Lanka and among South Asian communities elsewhere. The form Arjuna also passed into the literatures of Indonesia and the Malay world, where he appears as a hero in Javanese wayang stories.
How Popular is the Name Arjun?
Arjun recorded its highest annual U.S. birth count in 2014. Its best rank was #454 in 2014.
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 | #490 | 615 | 0.0360% |
| 2024 | #581 | 489 | 0.0285% |
| 2023 | #602 | 470 | 0.0275% |
| 2022 | #578 | 506 | 0.0290% |
| 2021 | #588 | 475 | 0.0272% |
| 2020 | #560 | 501 | 0.0290% |
| 2019 | #499 | 574 | 0.0320% |
| 2018 | #487 | 600 | 0.0330% |
| 2017 | #514 | 563 | 0.0304% |
| 2016 | #516 | 577 | 0.0304% |
| 2015 | #504 | 575 | 0.0300% |
| 2014 | #454 | 650 | 0.0338% |
| 2013 | #502 | 541 | 0.0286% |
| 2012 | #491 | 544 | 0.0287% |
| 2011 | #524 | 485 | 0.0255% |
| 2010 | #641 | 377 | 0.0197% |
| 2009 | #731 | 319 | 0.0161% |
| 2008 | #758 | 293 | 0.0144% |
| 2007 | #730 | 314 | 0.0151% |
| 2006 | #724 | 298 | 0.0145% |
| 2005 | #712 | 287 | 0.0144% |
| 2004 | #744 | 250 | 0.0126% |
| 2003 | #772 | 227 | 0.0115% |
| 2002 | #962 | 166 | 0.0086% |
| 2001 | #981 | 156 | 0.0080% |
| 2000 | #1,128 | 123 | 0.0063% |
| 1999 | #1,006 | 139 | 0.0072% |
| 1998 | #1,032 | 131 | 0.0069% |
| 1997 | #1,212 | 97 | 0.0051% |
| 1996 | #1,141 | 104 | 0.0055% |
| 1995 | #1,232 | 89 | 0.0047% |
| 1994 | #1,268 | 85 | 0.0044% |
| 1993 | #1,358 | 71 | 0.0036% |
| 1992 | #1,431 | 64 | 0.0032% |
| 1991 | #1,423 | 64 | 0.0032% |
| 1990 | #1,395 | 64 | 0.0031% |
| 1989 | #1,642 | 48 | 0.0024% |
| 1988 | #1,708 | 41 | 0.0021% |
| 1987 | #2,218 | 26 | 0.0014% |
| 1986 | #2,295 | 24 | 0.0013% |
| 1985 | #2,173 | 25 | 0.0014% |
| 1984 | #2,710 | 17 | 0.0009% |
| 1983 | #2,275 | 22 | 0.0012% |
| 1982 | #3,117 | 14 | 0.0008% |
| 1981 | #2,909 | 15 | 0.0008% |
| 1980 | #3,270 | 13 | 0.0007% |
| 1979 | #3,577 | 11 | 0.0006% |
| 1978 | #3,409 | 11 | 0.0007% |
| 1976 | #4,970 | 6 | 0.0004% |
| 1970 | #3,870 | 7 | 0.0004% |
| 1969 | #4,449 | 5 | 0.0003% |
| 1967 | #3,247 | 7 | 0.0004% |
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 Arjun 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.
You are always looking for a chance to do your own thing, to be your own person, and to have things done your own way.
✦ Arjun's Deeper Meaning & Tips for Parents Discover Arjun's symbolic numbers and practical tips for choosing a name that complements your child's birth date.