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Arnav

#2,886 in 2025Boys' name

Ocean, sea

Arnav has been given to 3,585 babies in the U.S. since 1991. In 2025 it ranked #2,886 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2011, with 249 recorded.

Babies named Arnav, 2025

1 in 77,100

Arnav over time, 1880–2025

Boys
010020030018801900192019401960198020002020

Based on births in the U.S. Babies given the name each year. Hover the chart — or focus it and use the arrow keys — for any year. Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Arnav: meaning, origin, and history

Ocean, sea

Deeper origin not confirmed in the cited records

What Arnav means

Arnav means “ocean, sea”, associated with arṇava.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

From Sanskrit अर्णव (arṇava, “ocean, sea”). Doublet of Arnab.

Excerpt from Wiktionary: Arnav (English) · CC BY-SA 4.0

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Arnav is used in English.

Arnav comes through Sanskrit अर्णव.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include Arnab.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 3,585 boys were recorded with the name Arnav between 1991 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 249 in 2011; its best national rank was #855 in 2011.

Over 5 years its rank fell, from #2,293 in 2020 to #2,886 in 2025. Over 10 years its rank fell, from #1,567 in 2015 to #2,886 in 2025.

How common is Arnav?

Everything below is computed from the 2025 data — the most recent year available.

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 77,100
43 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 39,700
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#2,886
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
53,441 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Arnav sits on the popularity scale

Rarest published (5 a year)#1 — Liam (20,818)

Chance at least one other child shares the name

If the other children were drawn at random from the 2025 national name distribution. Real classrooms cluster by region and community, so treat these as a floor, not a ceiling.

Class of 20Under 1%
Class of 30Under 1%
Grade of 100Under 1%
School of 500Under 1%

Put another way: gather 53,441 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Arnav. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Arnavs were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Arnav was born before 2010 — so the typical Arnav is around 15 today.

Median birth year
2010
About 15 years old
Biggest decade
2010s
46.1% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
96.3%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
3,585
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2010s — 46.1% of all recorded uses (1,651).

Is Arnav rising or falling?

Rank movement and count movement can disagree — the number of distinct names in use keeps growing, so a name holding a steady count still slides down the list. Both are shown.

Rank vs 1 year ago
+913
Places climbed
Rank vs 5 years ago
−593
Places dropped
Rank vs 10 years ago
−1,319
Places dropped
Births vs 10 years ago
0.42×
Fewer babies than then
Share of its own peak
17.3%
Peak was 2011 (249)
Years since peak
14
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Shifting
17.5% average annual change
Best rank ever
#855
2011

Spellings of Arnav

Arnav is not the most common spelling — Aarav is, with 11.4% against Arnav's 5.0%.

Grouped by closeness of spelling (up to two letter changes), same sex, with a floor on all-time use. It catches Sophia/Sofia and Aiden/Ayden, and misses spellings that sound alike but look different, like Sean and Shawn.

Where Arnav is used

Across 2016–2025, Arnav was most concentrated in New Jersey — about 1 in 11,111 boys, against 1 in 29,627 across all states with data. It was least common in Washington (1 in 100,000).

19 per 100,000

Most concentrated

  1. 1New Jersey1 in 11,111
  2. 2California1 in 14,286
  3. 3Texas1 in 25,000
  4. 4Massachusetts1 in 33,333
  5. 5Virginia1 in 33,333
  6. 6Illinois1 in 50,000
  7. 7North Carolina1 in 50,000
  8. 8New York1 in 50,000

Shading is the share of that state's recorded boys given this name, not the raw count — otherwise the map would just show which states are biggest. Unshaded states have no published records for this period. U.S. birth records suppress state-year counts below 5; state counts therefore don't add up to the national total. Every state links to its full rankings.

Arnav around the world

Where Arnav ranks in official birth records elsewhere in the world. Rankings only — the number of births isn’t comparable between places, so it isn’t shown.

  • England & Wales
    1999–2025
    #1,307
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    2005–2015
    #588
    in 2015
  • Ireland
    2012–2012
    #718
    in 2012
  • France
    2012–2022
    #3,744
    in 2022
  • Canada
    2001–2024
    #1,181
    in 2024
  • South Australia
    2004–2013
    #389
    in 2013

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS data under Open Government Licence v3.0. CSO, CBS SA data under CC BY 4.0. INSEE data under Licence Ouverte / Etalab 2.0. StatCan data under Statistics Canada Open Licence.

Arnav by the numbers

The raw record for each sex the name is used for.

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#2,886
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
Down 593
Best rank ever
#855
2011
Peak year
2011
249 that year
First recorded
1991
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
3,585
Count in 2025
43

Names similar to Arnav

Matched on shared beginnings and endings, similar length, and comparable popularity.

ArnieArneArnoArnoldoArnezArnaldoArnulfoPranavArnelManavArnettArnellArnolAbhinavRonavAarnavArnoldSanavKanavAnavArnikArnetArneyRanav

Names with a curve like Arnav

Not spelling — timing. These names rose, peaked and faded in the same years as Arnav, so they read as being from the same moment even when they look nothing alike.

CaelJaidynJaydanGaugeBroganKadynBraedynCorbanKaedenJaedynAedanKayleb

Sibling names for Arnav

Names from the same era and popularity tier — the two things that make a sibling set feel deliberate — skipping lookalike spellings and shared initials.

Explore around Arnav

Top names of 2011, Arnav's peak yearThe 2010s in fullOther names that peaked in 2011Boys' names starting with A