Arjan
An Indian masculine name meaning "highly revered" or "respectable".
Name Census estimates that about 875 living Americans carry the first name Arjan. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Arjan today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arjan births was 2024 (106 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arjan. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Arjan with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
875
~ 1 in 391,719 Americans
Peak year
2024
106 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,606
Tracked since 1990
Census
Arjan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 950 people with the first name Arjan, which placed it at #12,897 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#12,897
National first-name rank
People counted
950
950 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
56.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arjan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arjan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Arjan described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Arjan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander56.5% · 537
- White35.6% · 338
- Two or more races4.3% · 41
- Hispanic or Latino2.4% · 23
- Black or African American0.7% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 4
Popularity
Arjan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arjan from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 337 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arjan by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Arjan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arjans live
The SSA's state-level files cover 8 states and territories. California, Washington, New York recorded the most babies named Arjan, while Virginia, Indiana, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 50 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arjan
The name Arjan has its origins in the Persian language and culture, dating back to the ancient Achaemenid Empire in the 6th century BCE. It is derived from the Old Persian word "arya," meaning "noble" or "honorable." The name likely gained popularity during the reign of the Achaemenid kings, as it reflected the values and ideals of the ruling class.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Arjan can be found in the Zoroastrian sacred text, the Avesta, which was composed between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE. In these ancient scriptures, the name is mentioned in connection with various mythological and religious figures, suggesting its widespread use among the Persian population.
During the Sasanian Empire (224-651 CE), the name Arjan continued to be prevalent, particularly among the aristocracy and the military elite. Historical records from this period mention several notable individuals bearing this name, including Arjan, a high-ranking military commander who served under King Khosrow I (531-579 CE).
In the Indian subcontinent, the name Arjan gained prominence during the Mughal Empire (1526-1857 CE). One of the most renowned figures with this name was Guru Arjan Dev (1563-1606 CE), the fifth guru of the Sikh faith. He played a crucial role in compiling the Adi Granth, the sacred scripture of Sikhism, and is revered as a spiritual leader and martyr.
Another famous bearer of the name Arjan was Arjan Singh (1919-2017), a celebrated Indian Air Force officer who served as the Chief of the Air Staff during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. He was awarded the Padma Vibhushan, India's second-highest civilian honor, for his distinguished military service.
In the realm of literature, the name Arjan is associated with Arjan Kalra (1952-2022), an acclaimed Indian author and translator. His works, including the novel "Kya Din The" and translations of classic Persian poetry, have left an indelible mark on the literary landscape.
While the name Arjan has Persian roots, it has been embraced by various cultures and communities across the Middle East, Central Asia, and the Indian subcontinent, each adding their own unique cultural significance and historical context to this noble and honorable name.
People
Arjan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arjan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Arjan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arjan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 875 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arjan going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 391,719 US residents.
Is Arjan a common name?
We classify Arjan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 883 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arjan most popular?
The single biggest year for Arjan was 2024, when 106 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arjan is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arjan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 950 people with the name Arjan, or 0.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #12,897 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Arjan in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Arjan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arjan leans strongly male. 940 people counted with this name were male (98.7%), compared with 12 female bearers (1.3%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Arjan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arjan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.5%. The next largest groups are White (35.6%) and Two or More Races (4.3%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Arjan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Arjan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.5% (537 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Arjan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arjan a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arjan in the SSA data are male. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Is Arjan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arjan in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Arjan can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.
How many people are named Arjan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.