Head to head · Boys' names
Arjun vs Rodrigo
#490 vs #491 in 2025 · both holding its place on the charts
Arjun is a whisker ahead (#490 vs #491 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, Rodrigo leads 4 measures of 6; Arjun leads 2.
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
- 1910s: Arjun —, Rodrigo #3728 — Rodrigo higher
- 1920s: Arjun —, Rodrigo #2337 — Rodrigo higher
- 1930s: Arjun —, Rodrigo #1711 — Rodrigo higher
- 1940s: Arjun —, Rodrigo #1591 — Rodrigo higher
- 1950s: Arjun —, Rodrigo #1236 — Rodrigo higher
- 1960s: Arjun #3818, Rodrigo #983 — Rodrigo higher
- 1970s: Arjun #4034, Rodrigo #688 — Rodrigo higher
- 1980s: Arjun #2426, Rodrigo #617 — Rodrigo higher
- 1990s: Arjun #1250, Rodrigo #447 — Rodrigo higher
- 2000s: Arjun #824, Rodrigo #365 — Rodrigo higher
- 2010s: Arjun #513, Rodrigo #468 — Rodrigo higher
- 2020s: Arjun #566, Rodrigo #525 — Rodrigo higher
Rodrigo stood higher in every recorded decade — 12 of 12.
Rank by decade
| Decade | Arjun | Rodrigo |
|---|---|---|
| 1910s | — | #3728 |
| 1920s | — | #2337 |
| 1930s | — | #1711 |
| 1940s | — | #1591 |
| 1950s | — | #1236 |
| 1960s | #3818 | #983 |
| 1970s | #4034 | #688 |
| 1980s | #2426 | #617 |
| 1990s | #1250 | #447 |
| 2000s | #824 | #365 |
| 2010s | #513 | #468 |
| 2020s | #566 | #525 |
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.
Rodrigo
famous ruler, renowned in power
From the Germanic elements hrod, 'fame, glory', and ric, 'power, ruler' — the same pair behind English Roderick.
Hrodric → Rodericus → Roderic → Rodrigo → Ruy
How it traveled
The name came into Spain with the Visigoths as Hrodric, latinized in charters as Rodericus, and settled into Spanish and Portuguese as Rodrigo. Roderic, the last Visigothic king of Hispania, died in battle in 711, and his name stayed in use through the medieval Christian kingdoms; medieval Castilian also clipped it to Ruy, the form used for Ruy Díaz de Vivar, the knight known as El Cid.
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.
Rodrigo
roh-DREE-goh
In Spanish and Portuguese the r is tapped and the stress falls squarely on the middle syllable. English speakers usually land on ruh-DREE-goh, which is close enough that nobody stumbles.
- Rodri — The standard informal short form in Spanish, used among family and friends.
- Digo — Common informal clipping in Brazilian Portuguese.
- Rigo — Informal short form; also used on its own as a given name.
- Ruy — The medieval Castilian contraction, still a full given name in its own right in Spain and Portugal.
- Also Rod, Roro.
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 Rodrigo's 3
Choose Rodrigo if you want…
- a name on the way upup 85 places on the charts in five years
- a name with more sound in itRodrigo runs 3 syllables, Arjun 2
- plenty of nickname options6 recorded short forms — Rodri, Digo and Rigo
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.
Rodrigo
Strengths
- One spelling across Spanish, Portuguese, Italian and beyond — no variant to correct, and it reads the same on paper in every one of them.
- A documented record stretching back to the Visigothic kings of Hispania, so it has never had to be revived.
- Several ready-made short forms in real use: Rodri, Digo, Rigo, and the medieval Ruy.
To consider
- Outside Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking settings it will often be flattened to Rod, which has a distinctly mid-century sound in English. Worth deciding in advance whether that bothers you.
- The name is firmly identified with Iberian and Latin American heritage. That is a strength for many families and a mismatch for others, particularly alongside a very short Anglo surname.
- Three syllables with the stress in the middle means the full form rarely survives on a playground — expect the shortened version to do most of the daily work.
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 Rodrigo 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 Rodrigo?
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
- Portuguese names in the American record
- Latin American and Caribbean names
- all guides
Where Arjun and Rodrigo each sit in the library — alternatives in the same style, ranked by the same records.
Arjun or Rodrigo — the short answers
- Which is more popular, Arjun or Rodrigo?
- Arjun, in 2025: Arjun ranked #490 with 615 babies; Rodrigo ranked #491 with 614 babies.
- Which name is rising faster, Arjun or Rodrigo?
- Rodrigo. Over the last five years Arjun moved up 70 places; Rodrigo moved up 85 places.
- Which is the older name, Arjun or Rodrigo?
- Arjun entered the US charts in 1967; Rodrigo entered the US charts in 1918. On the American record, Rodrigo is the older name.
- How many people are named Arjun and Rodrigo?
- About 12,000 people named Arjun are estimated to be alive in the US today. About 26,500 people named Rodrigo are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- Will there be other Arjuns or Rodrigos in the classroom?
- Arjun will almost certainly be the only one in school. Rodrigo 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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