Head to head · Boys' names
Adan vs Arjun
#482 vs #490 in 2025 · Hebrew vs Sanskrit roots · both holding its place on the charts
Adan is a whisker ahead (#482 vs #490 in 2025) and both are holding its place on the charts. The records will not split these two — sound, story and your own last name will.
Cast your vote
Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
The tale of the tape
On the charts, Adan leads 5 measures of 6; Arjun leads 1.
Ranks, counts and years are measured in the official US birth record; the classroom and living figures are estimates computed from it. The dot marks the side each measure favours on the charts — more common, not better.
What the records say
146 years of US births, drawn on one scale
Two curves, one scale
Who owned which decade
- 1900s: Adan #1205, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1910s: Adan #2057, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1920s: Adan #1319, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1930s: Adan #1038, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1940s: Adan #939, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1950s: Adan #989, Arjun — — Adan higher
- 1960s: Adan #847, Arjun #3818 — Adan higher
- 1970s: Adan #689, Arjun #4034 — Adan higher
- 1980s: Adan #550, Arjun #2426 — Adan higher
- 1990s: Adan #518, Arjun #1250 — Adan higher
- 2000s: Adan #361, Arjun #824 — Adan higher
- 2010s: Adan #386, Arjun #513 — Adan higher
- 2020s: Adan #470, Arjun #566 — Adan higher
Adan stood higher in every recorded decade — 13 of 13.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Adan | Arjun |
|---|---|---|
| 1900s | #1205 | — |
| 1910s | #2057 | — |
| 1920s | #1319 | — |
| 1930s | #1038 | — |
| 1940s | #939 | — |
| 1950s | #989 | — |
| 1960s | #847 | #3818 |
| 1970s | #689 | #4034 |
| 1980s | #550 | #2426 |
| 1990s | #518 | #1250 |
| 2000s | #361 | #824 |
| 2010s | #386 | #513 |
| 2020s | #470 | #566 |
Average national rank across each decade. A dash means the name sat outside the recorded top of that decade.
The names themselves
Meaning, roots, sound and the people who carried each
Where each name comes from
Adan
man, human — from Hebrew, tied to the word for earth or ground
The Hebrew adam means "man, human being" and plays on adamah, "ground, soil" — the wordplay is right there in the opening chapters of Genesis.
Adam (Hebrew) → Adam (Greek and Latin) → Adán (Spanish) → Adan
How it traveled
The name begins as Hebrew Adam, the first human in Genesis, whose name echoes adamah, the ground. It traveled through Greek and Latin translations of the Bible into every Christian language of Europe, and through the Quran, where Adam is the first prophet, into the Muslim world.
Arjun
Bright, shining, white or silver
From Sanskrit arjuna. The root belongs to a very old Indo-European family of words for brightness and silver — the same one that gives Latin argentum and, through it, the element name argon.
Arjuna (Sanskrit) → Arjun (Hindi, Punjabi, Bengali) → Arjun (English)
How it traveled
The name is Sanskrit, and its great anchor is the Mahabharata, the epic compiled over centuries in ancient India, where Arjuna is the third of the five Pandava brothers and the finest archer among them. The Bhagavad Gita is set in the pause before he must fight, and it is addressed to him by name, which fixed the name in the religious and literary memory of an entire subcontinent.
Where a reading is contested the note says so — this page does not turn a guess into a fact. The chain is each name's recorded forms, oldest first; the story is its opening, told in full on the name's own page.
Out loud, and in short
Adan
ah-DAHN
That is the Spanish stress, on the second syllable. In English-speaking settings many Adans answer to AY-dan, which sits close to the familiar Aiden. Both are in real use, so it is worth deciding early which one your family will say.
- Adancito — Spanish affectionate diminutive, used within families rather than in formal settings
- Dan — Informal English clipping; also stands alone as a given name in its own right
Arjun
AR-jun
First syllable stressed, the a as in 'far', the j as in 'jump', and the second syllable short — closer to 'jun' than 'joon'. In Hindi the r is lightly tapped, but the English version is close enough that most people say it correctly unprompted.
- Arj — The most common informal clip among English-speaking friends and teammates.
- AJ — An initials nickname that American classmates and coaches reach for readily; also stands alone as a given name in the US.
- Arju — An affectionate family form used within many Indian households, rarely outside them.
- Jun — Occasional, taken from the second syllable; also a name in its own right in East Asia.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
Choose Adan if you want…
- a name holding steadyAdan is holding its place on the charts
Choose Arjun if you want…
- a name on the way upup 70 places on the charts in five years
- plenty of nickname options4 recorded short forms — Arj, AJ and Arju
Each line is a measured difference between the two names — a rank, a count, a recorded form — never a judgement of either. Save the one that answers your question; it lands on your shortlist.
The trade-offs, name by name
Adan
Strengths
- Short, four letters, no silent letters — easy to write down the first time it is heard.
- Works in both Spanish and English without translation or adjustment, which matters in bilingual families.
- Belongs to one of the longest documented name lines in existence, shared by Jewish, Christian and Muslim tradition.
To consider
- Two pronunciations circulate — ah-DAHN and AY-dan — so a mild correction may become a lifelong habit. Some families choose the accented Adán on the birth certificate to steer it.
- The accent itself is a decision. Adán is the standard Spanish spelling, but American forms, databases and airline tickets tend to strip diacritics anyway.
- Aiden, Aidan and Ayden are all widely known, so expect the occasional misspelling in that direction from people who have only heard the name spoken.
Arjun
Strengths
- Spelled the way it sounds for an English reader, with no silent letters and no ambiguous vowels.
- Documented in continuous use for well over two thousand years, from the Sanskrit epics to present-day birth records.
- Works in many languages at once — Hindi, Tamil, Bengali, Punjabi, Indonesian — with only small changes at the ending.
To consider
- Some English speakers will stretch it to 'ar-JOON' or flatten the first vowel on a first reading. One correction usually fixes it, but expect to make it.
- Arjun, Arjan and Arjuna all circulate in the US, so spelling it out over the phone will become routine.
- In American records the name's wave is recent, so most Arjuns here are still young. That means few adult namesakes close at hand, even though the name itself is ancient elsewhere.
Documented properties of each name — how it spells, travels and shortens — not opinions about the child.
With your last name
Say both in full. The notes are facts about letters and sound — a rhyme, a shared initial, the monogram — not a verdict on either name.
Type a last name to hear Adan and Arjun in full.
Weighing the whole shortlist? Run the full comparison — up to eight names with your last name, initials, classroom projections and a printable report.
Decide together
Nobody names a baby alone
Still torn between Adan and Arjun?
Put both to the vote.
One link to your partner, your parents, your sister. Each of them gets the two names, a one-tap answer and room to say why — and every reply lands in one place.
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More than two in the running? Settle it with a bracket or run the full comparison with your last name.
More head-to-heads
Same measures, different pair. Sixty more are dealt daily in the arena.
Lists these names appear on
Where Adan and Arjun each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Adan or Arjun — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Adan or Arjun?
- Adan, in 2025: Adan ranked #482 with 625 babies; Arjun ranked #490 with 615 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Adan or Arjun?
- Arjun. Over the last five years Adan moved down 9 places; Arjun moved up 70 places.
- Which is the older name, Adan or Arjun?
- Adan entered the US charts in 1904; Arjun entered the US charts in 1967. On the American record, Adan is the older name.
- How many people are named Adan and Arjun?
- About 29,500 people named Adan are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 12,000 people named Arjun are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Adans or Arjuns in the classroom?
- Adan will almost certainly be the only one in school. Arjun will almost certainly be the only one in school.
US figures from the Social Security Administration, 1880–2025. Votes are battle voters on this site, not the birth record. Data & methodology
Keep playing
Sixty more head-to-heads are dealt in the arena every day — or line up Adan, Arjun and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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