Arash
Masculine
Arash is an archer. In Iranian legend he ends a long war by climbing a mountain, drawing a bow with all the strength of his life, and shooting an arrow that flies from dawn to noon and lands where the border is then drawn. He dies from the effort, and the frontier holds. The story is told in Iran every spring.
How old is the name Arash?
Arash first appears in US birth records in 1972 — 53 years ago. The typical Arash alive today was born around 1990, making them about 35 years old. About 900 people named Arash are estimated to be alive in the US today.
When was the name Arash most popular?
Arash peaked in 1982, reaching #1514 nationally. Today it ranks #4857, 3,343 places below that high. See the whole 1982 chart.
Where it comes from
From Erexsa to Arash
The story of Arash
The story is old enough to appear in the Avesta as a name and to be told in full by Persian writers a thousand years later. It belongs to the festival of Tirgan in midsummer, and the arrow that marks a boundary made the archer a figure of sacrifice rather than of war: he gives everything he has and asks for nothing back. The name has been given in Iran continuously, and it came to American records with Iranian families, especially after the nineteen-seventies. It is used in Afghanistan and Tajikistan too.
Meaningnot established
Not established
The Avestan form is Erexsa and has no accepted etymology. Bright and shining are the readings most often printed and rest on guesswork rather than on evidence. What is documented is the figure: an archer named in the Avesta and told about ever since.
How the name formed
- Erexsa
- Arash
Related forms: آرش · Ǝrəxša
Pronouncing Arash
ah-RASH
Two syllables with the stress at the end, the a long as in father. American English often moves the weight forward to AR-ash, and Iranian-American families generally accept both.
Nicknames for Arash
Moderate
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
- 1972
- Most boys named
- 198241 — the highest on record
- Peak rank
- #1514reached in 1982
- Change vs 2024
- +42.9%20 in 2025, from 14
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.
Arash in other languages
The same name elsewhere
- آرش in Persian — transliteration
- Ǝrəxša in Avestan — related form
Strongest US states over the last decade: California.
Arashs among us
people named Arash are estimated to be alive in the US today
About 1 boy in 85,404 born in 2025 was named Arash
Estimated from SSA birth records and published actuarial life tables. Method
Is it right for you
What happens to a name after it peaks
The Thayne test
Every popular name lives one long story — a climb, a peak, a slow settling back. Arash's later chapters haven't been written yet, so we borrowed them: Thayne climbed just as high around 1962, and its whole arc is on record. Line the two peaks up, and Thayne's path sketches the road Arash is walking now.
Arash 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
Arash beside its neighbors
The names ranked closest to Arash in 2025, in babies rather than position — the bars are to scale.
US boys given each name in 2025.
The trade-off
- It carries a documented legend that is still publicly told in Iran every year.
- Ari and Ash are ready short forms that need no explaining in English.
- Five letters and two syllables make it easy to write and to say.
- Its meaning is not recoverable, so the confident glosses found online are guesses.
- English speakers hear the word rash inside it, which schoolchildren find quickly.
- The stress moves between Persian and English, giving the child two versions of his name.
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What they receive
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Arash
Masculine · #4857 in the U.S.
Frequently asked
- How many Arashs 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 Arash are estimated to be alive in the US today.
- How popular is the name Arash in 2025?
- Arash ranks #4857 among US boy names in 2025, with 20 babies given the name.
- How rare is the name Arash?
- About 1 in every 85,404 US boys born in 2025 was named Arash — 20 in all.
- Will my child share the name Arash with classmates?
- Arash will almost certainly be the only one in school.
Ranked beside Arash
Names sitting at a similar level of popularity right now.
Carlyle#4857 · Russ#4857 · Hercules#4857 · Marcial#4857 · Lauro#4857 · Marin#4857 · Gil#4857 · Aloysius#4857
Looking for what else is popular rather than what resembles Arash? See the current top 100.
Choosing between Arash and another name?
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US figures from the Social Security Administration. 1880–2025. Data & methodology
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