Head to head · Boys' names
Arjun vs Asa
#490 vs #483 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Asa is a whisker ahead (#483 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, Asa 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
- 1880s: Arjun —, Asa #224 — Asa higher
- 1890s: Arjun —, Asa #280 — Asa higher
- 1900s: Arjun —, Asa #464 — Asa higher
- 1910s: Arjun —, Asa #583 — Asa higher
- 1920s: Arjun —, Asa #638 — Asa higher
- 1930s: Arjun —, Asa #772 — Asa higher
- 1940s: Arjun —, Asa #922 — Asa higher
- 1950s: Arjun —, Asa #1133 — Asa higher
- 1960s: Arjun #3818, Asa #1205 — Asa higher
- 1970s: Arjun #4034, Asa #1040 — Asa higher
- 1980s: Arjun #2426, Asa #769 — Asa higher
- 1990s: Arjun #1250, Asa #797 — Asa higher
- 2000s: Arjun #824, Asa #637 — Asa higher
- 2010s: Arjun #513, Asa #531 — Arjun higher
- 2020s: Arjun #566, Asa #486 — Asa higher
Asa stood higher in 14 of 15 decades; Asa took the 2020s.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arjun | Asa |
|---|---|---|
| 1880s | — | #224 |
| 1890s | — | #280 |
| 1900s | — | #464 |
| 1910s | — | #583 |
| 1920s | — | #638 |
| 1930s | — | #772 |
| 1940s | — | #922 |
| 1950s | — | #1133 |
| 1960s | #3818 | #1205 |
| 1970s | #4034 | #1040 |
| 1980s | #2426 | #769 |
| 1990s | #1250 | #797 |
| 2000s | #824 | #637 |
| 2010s | #513 | #531 |
| 2020s | #566 | #486 |
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
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.
Asa
healer, physician
The Hebrew name is read from a root meaning to heal. Worth knowing: several identical-looking names elsewhere have nothing to do with this one — Japanese Asa is written with characters for morning or hemp, and Scandinavian Åsa comes from Old Norse. Same three letters, separate roads.
Hebrew אָסָא (Asa) → Greek Ἀσά → Latin Asa → English Asa
How it traveled
The name begins in Hebrew, borne in the Bible by a king of Judah, and it passed into Greek and Latin scripture without being reshaped — a rare thing for a biblical name, most of which came out the other end sounding different. The Protestant Reformation put Old Testament names back into English mouths, and Asa was among those the Puritans favored; it traveled with them to colonial New England and settled into the naming stock of American families, particularly in the nineteenth century.
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
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.
Asa
AY-suh
Two syllables. AY-suh is the settled English pronunciation for the biblical name. AH-suh is what you will hear for the unrelated Japanese and Scandinavian names spelled the same way, so an occasional correction comes with the territory.
- Ace — Informal, playground-level; also used on its own as a given name in the US.
Is it right for you
The differences that decide it, laid out by what you want
Choose by what you want
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
- a newer arrivalArjun entered the US charts in 1967
Choose Asa if you want…
- a name holding steadyAsa is holding its place on the charts
- a name that stays wholeone recorded short form for Asa (Ace)
- a long American recordAsa was already in use when US records began in 1880
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
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.
Asa
Strengths
- Two syllables, four sounds, and no silent letters — once heard, it is almost always spelled right first time.
- A documented line running from Hebrew scripture through Greek and Latin into English without the name changing shape.
- Long American use rather than a fashion spike, so it sits comfortably on a child, an adult and an old man alike.
To consider
- Two live pronunciations exist — AY-suh in English, AH-suh in Japanese and Scandinavian names of the same spelling. Most people will guess the English one, but not all of them.
- Three letters make for a short target: expect it to be read as Asia or Ada now and then, and to get lost in autocorrect and search boxes.
- Elsewhere in the world the same spelling reads as a girl's name, which matters mainly for international forms, travel and email from abroad.
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 Arjun and Asa 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 Arjun and Asa?
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
- Indian names rising in America
- Three-letter names: tiny and complete
- Palindrome names: the same in the mirror
- Victorian names ready for a second century
- all guides
Where Arjun and Asa each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arjun or Asa — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arjun or Asa?
- Asa, in 2025: Asa ranked #483 with 622 babies; Arjun ranked #490 with 615 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arjun or Asa?
- Arjun. Over the last five years Arjun moved up 70 places; Asa moved up 23 places.
- Which is the older name, Arjun or Asa?
- Arjun entered the US charts in 1967; Asa was already in use when US records began in 1880. On the American record, Asa is the older name.
- How many people are named Arjun and Asa?
- About 12,000 people named Arjun are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 17,000 people named Asa are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arjuns or Asas in the classroom?
- Arjun will almost certainly be the only one in school. Asa 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 Arjun, Asa and the rest of your shortlist with your last name in one printable report.
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