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Arran

#12,180 in 2025Boys' name

Place name used as a given name; older meaning unconfirmed

Arran has been given to 284 babies in the U.S. since 1973. In 2025 it ranked #12,180 of 13,926 boys’ names in use. Its peak year was 2008, with 15 recorded.

Babies named Arran, 2025

1 in 663,000

Arran over time, 1880–2025

Boys
05101518801900192019401960198020002020

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 Gaps mean the name was given fewer than 5 times that year; these counts are unpublished.

Arran: meaning, origin, and history

Place name used as a given name; older meaning unconfirmed

place names and Tamil

What Arran means

Arran comes from a place name.

Dictionary etymologyReferences, data & attribution

Derived from Scottish Gaelic Arainn, but the name is ultimately probably of non-Indo-European (substrate) or Pictish origin, along with other uncertain names in Scotland such as Skye, Lewis, and Islay. Possibly from a Brythonic/Pictish term ancestral or cognate to Middle Welsh aran (“"high place"”).

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

Wiktionary material is available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Origin, language, and formation

Arran is used in English. Its origins include place names and Tamil.

Arran comes through Scottish Gaelic Arainn.

Related names and everyday forms

Related names include aran.

Pronunciation and spelling

In English, Arran is pronounced /ˈæɹən/.

American usage and historical context

In the United States, 284 boys were recorded with the name Arran between 1973 and 2025. Its highest annual count was 15 in 2008; its best national rank was #4,081 in 1973.

How common is Arran?

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

Among all babies, 2025
1 in 663,000
5 of 3,315,165 births
Among boys only
1 in 342,000
<0.01% of boys
Rank, 2025
#12,180
of 13,926 boys’ names in use
Coin-flip room size
459,581 kids
Even odds of a second one

Where Arran 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 459,581 children born in 2025 and it's an even bet that one of them is another Arran. In a class of 30 the chance is Under 1%.

When Arrans were born

Half of everyone ever recorded as Arran was born before 2006 — so the typical Arran is around 19 today.

Median birth year
2006
About 19 years old
Biggest decade
2000s
30.6% of all use
Born in the last 25 years
64.4%
A modern name
Recorded since 1950
284
People you could plausibly meet
Choose a decade

2000s — 30.6% of all recorded uses (87).

Is Arran 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
—
Not ranked then
Rank vs 5 years ago
New entry
Not ranked then
Rank vs 10 years ago
—
Not ranked then
Births vs 10 years ago
—
Not published both years
Share of its own peak
33.3%
Peak was 2008 (15)
Years since peak
17
Years
Year-to-year steadiness
Volatile
35.0% average annual change
Best rank ever
#4,081
1973

Spellings of Arran

Arran is not the most common spelling — Brian is, with 24.7% against Arran's <0.01%.

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.

Arran around the world

Where Arran 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
    1996–2025
    #1,226
    in 2025
  • Scotland
    1974–2025
    #60
    in 2025
  • Northern Ireland
    1997–2002
    #220
    in 2002
  • Ireland
    1979–2022
    #657
    in 2022
  • France
    2019–2019
    #5,662
    in 2019
  • Canada
    1993–2017
    #2,944
    in 2017
  • South Australia
    1966–2009
    #708
    in 2009

Popularity data from Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland, Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency, Central Statistics Office, Institut national de la statistique et des études économiques, Statistics Canada and Consumer and Business Services (South Australia). ONS, NRS, NISRA 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.

Arran by the numbers

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

As a boy's name

Rank in 2025
#12,180
Trend vs 5 yrs ago
New entry
Best rank ever
#4,081
1973
Peak year
2008
15 that year
First recorded
1973
Last recorded
2025
All-time count
284
Count in 2025
5

Names similar to Arran

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

ArrenArrisAaranArrieEzranToranBaranMiranZoranOmranDeranArrowJeranRoranEmranArrianArrionKoranTheranMehranArrickFranArrinJibran

Sibling names for Arran

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 Arran

Top names of 2008, Arran's peak yearThe 2000s in fullOther names that peaked in 1973Boys' names starting with ATamil Boy NamesTamil Names