Aran
Masculine
Aran is overwhelmingly a boys’ name — 974 boys against 27 girls since 1880.
Aran arrives from several directions at once — islands off the west of Ireland, a valley in the Pyrenees, a name in Genesis, and a word in Thai. It is four letters long and each tradition can read it as its own.
How old is the name Aran?
Aran first appears in US birth records in 1969 — 56 years ago. The typical Aran alive today was born around 2008, making them about 17 years old. About 900 people named Aran are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Aran most popular?
Aran peaked in 1971, reaching #2279 nationally. Today it ranks #3128, 849 places below that high. See the whole 1971 chart.
Lists built from the same records:
Where it comes from
Origin, sound and short forms
The story of Aran
Each of these lines is real and none feeds the others. Irish and Scottish families take Aran and Arran from the islands, which have been named that since long before the language was written down. Catalan and Basque families take it from the valley. Hebrew keeps a small biblical Aran, and Thai has its own word entirely. The result is a name that is genuinely at home in several places and derived from none of them in particular — a rare and honest situation.
Meaningnot established
Not established
There is no single source. The Aran Islands and Scotland's Arran are place names of disputed derivation, often connected to a word for a kidney-shaped ridge. Aranese and Basque aran means a valley, and the Val d'Aran is named for it. Genesis has an Aran among the sons of Dishan. Thai Aran comes from a Sanskrit root for forest.
Pronouncing Aran
AR-uhn
Two syllables, first stressed. Irish usage keeps a fuller second vowel, AR-ahn; in American English it is often identical to Aaron.
Nicknames for Aran
Limited
What the data says
146 years of official birth records
The long climb, and where it stands now
The same years in position rather than babies
- First recorded
- 1969
- Most boys named
- 202538 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #2279reached in 1971
- Change vs 2024
- +22.6%38 in 2025, from 31
Rank is a position, a count is a headcount, and they move independently — a name can hold its rank while the number of babies behind it falls. Source: U.S. Social Security Administration.
Aran in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- Arran in Scottish — spelling variant
- Aran in Hebrew — related form
- Aran in Basque — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California, Texas, New York.
Arans among us
people named Aran are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 44,949 born in 2025 was named Aran
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Spellings of Aran
- #3128
- Aran on the 2025 chart
- #880
- counting every spelling
The SSA counts spellings, not names. Aran went to 38 boys in 2025, but Aaran and Arran are the same name said out loud. Together the 3 spellings went to 48, which makes it the 880th most-given boys’ name of the year — 2,248 places above the chart.
- Aran38
- Aaran5
- Arran5
About 1 boy in 35,585 born in 2025 was given one of these spellings — against 1 in 44,949 for Aran itself.
Spellings are grouped by a fixed rule that folds interchangeable English spellings of one sound (ck/k, ph/f, x/ks, a non-initial y for i) and keeps vowels apart, so Sean and Shawn stay separate names. It errs towards splitting: a family here is never larger than the truth. SSA national data, 2025. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Domnick test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Aran's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Domnick climbed just as high around 1917, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Domnick's path sketches the road Aran is walking now.
Aran sits in the calm middle of the cycle — neither chasing a wave nor sliding off one. Middle-of-the-cycle names age slowly and predictably.
A scored estimate from 146 years of naming cycles — not a prophecy. Great names outlive statistics. How this is scored
Where Aran is headed
Aran looks set to keep climbing gently, with roughly 16% more babies a year by 2030 if the current curve holds. Its history is short or jumpy, though, so read this as a sketch rather than a promise.
Low confidence — fitted on official counts through 2025.
A damped-trend projection of the official birth data — a sketch of momentum, not a promise. Every name's forecast, ranked.
Aran beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Aran in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- Four letters, no difficult sounds, and readable in a great many languages.
- Several genuine traditions can claim it, which suits families with more than one heritage.
- It has a concrete image behind it in most of its lines — an island, a valley, a forest.
- In American English it is heard as Aaron, and that is the spelling that will be written.
- The knitting term for the Irish sweater style carries the same word and will be mentioned.
- With so many sources, the question of what it means has no short answer.
Nobody names a baby alone.
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What they receive
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Aran
Masculine · #3128 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arans are there in the world?
- No country counts the world's names, so there is no worldwide figure — anyone quoting one is estimating. About 900 people named Aran are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How do you spell Aran?
- Aran is the most-used spelling in US records — 38 of the 48 babies given the name in 2025. The others recorded are Aaran and Arran.
- How popular is the name Aran in 2025?
- Aran ranks #3128 among US boy names in 2025, with 38 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Aran?
- About 1 in every 44,949 US boys born in 2025 was named Aran — 38 in all.
- Will my child share the name Aran with classmates?
- Aran will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Aran
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Hamilton#3128 · Juanpablo#3128 · Courtney#3128 · Baxter#3128 · Javen#3128 · Hal#3128 · Dawud#3128 · Tavion#3128
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Aran? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Aran and another name?
See them side by side — full stats, history and a gentle verdict.
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Which one would you pick?
Your gut first, the numbers after — the split shows once you pick.
US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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