Head to head · Boys' names
Arjun vs Caspian
#490 vs #491 in 2025
Arjun is a whisker ahead (#490 vs #491 in 2025), but the curves point different ways: Arjun is holding its place on the charts, Caspian is climbing the charts fast. On momentum, Caspian has the edge.
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, Arjun leads 5 measures of 6; Caspian 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
- 1960s: Arjun #3818, Caspian — — Arjun higher
- 1970s: Arjun #4034, Caspian — — Arjun higher
- 1980s: Arjun #2426, Caspian — — Arjun higher
- 1990s: Arjun #1250, Caspian #6178 — Arjun higher
- 2000s: Arjun #824, Caspian #4958 — Arjun higher
- 2010s: Arjun #513, Caspian #1704 — Arjun higher
- 2020s: Arjun #566, Caspian #653 — Arjun higher
Arjun stood higher in every recorded decade — 7 of 7.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arjun | Caspian |
|---|---|---|
| 1960s | #3818 | — |
| 1970s | #4034 | — |
| 1980s | #2426 | — |
| 1990s | #1250 | #6178 |
| 2000s | #824 | #4958 |
| 2010s | #513 | #1704 |
| 2020s | #566 | #653 |
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.
Caspian
of the Caspian Sea; from the ancient Caspii people
The route is clear — the sea took its name from the Caspii, a people of the Transcaucasus region, and the name came to English through the sea. What the tribal name itself meant in its own language was never recorded, so the trail stops there.
Caspii → Kaspion → Mare Caspium → Caspian
How it traveled
The Caspii were a people known to Greek and Roman geographers, and the great landlocked sea beside them took their name: Kaspion to the Greeks, Mare Caspium in Latin. For centuries afterward Caspian was purely geography — a place on a map, not a person.
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.
Caspian
KASS-pee-un
Stress on the first syllable, exactly as in the name of the sea. Some families say KASS-pyun, running the last two syllables together. Rarely misread, though it is sometimes heard as Casper on a first introduction.
- Cas — The most common short form in everyday use; also spelled Cass, which stands alone as a given name of its own.
- Cass — Informal; used for Cassius and Cassian too, so it may need clarifying among friends.
- Casp — Informal, mostly a playground or teammate shortening.
- Caz — Informal, more common in British and Australian usage than American.
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 holding steadyArjun is holding its place on the charts
- a name with fewer syllablesArjun is 2 syllables to Caspian's 3
Choose Caspian if you want…
- a name on the way upup 269 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itCaspian runs 3 syllables, Arjun 2
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.
Caspian
Strengths
- The spelling is already familiar to anyone who has seen a world map or read Narnia, so it is usually written correctly the first time.
- It sits beside well-established Cas- names — Casper, Cassius, Cassian — which makes it easy for strangers to hear and repeat.
- Short forms come ready-made: Cas, Cass, Casp, all in real use and none invented for the purpose.
To consider
- It will be mistaken for Casper often enough to notice. The two names are unrelated in origin, but they share four letters and a rhythm, and people fill in what they expect to hear.
- The Narnia link is real and permanent. Many people will place the name in those books immediately, which is charming to some readers and a little bookish for others.
- It is climbing steadily, so a child born now may meet more Caspians as a teenager than as a toddler — still uncommon, but less singular than it is today.
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 Caspian 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 Caspian?
Put both to the vote.
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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 Arjun and Caspian each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arjun or Caspian — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arjun or Caspian?
- Arjun, in 2025: Arjun ranked #490 with 615 babies; Caspian ranked #491 with 614 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arjun or Caspian?
- Caspian. Over the last five years Arjun moved up 70 places; Caspian moved up 269 places.
- Which is the older name, Arjun or Caspian?
- Arjun entered the US charts in 1967; Caspian entered the US charts in 1998. On the American record, Arjun is the older name.
- How many people are named Arjun and Caspian?
- About 12,000 people named Arjun are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 4,100 people named Caspian are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arjuns or Caspians in the classroom?
- Arjun will almost certainly be the only one in school. Caspian 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
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