Aarna
A feminine name of Indian origin meaning "rays of the rising sun".
Name Census estimates that about 2,692 living Americans carry the first name Aarna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Aarna today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aarna births was 2021 (268 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aarna. Below you will find a gender breakdown showing how the name splits between male and female registrations, a year-by-year popularity chart stretching back to 1880, decade-level totals, the top US states for this name, its meaning and etymology, and a set of frequently asked questions with data-backed answers.
Key insights
- • Aarna is a relatively new arrival in the SSA data. The average bearer is just 9 years old, meaning it gained most of its traction in the last two decades.
People living today
2.7K
~ 1 in 127,323 Americans
Peak year
2021
268 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2024 SSA rank
#1,245
Tracked since 2005
Popularity
Aarna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aarna from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 1,452 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Aarna remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Aarna by decade
The table below breaks the full SSA timeline into ten-year windows. Each row shows how many male and female babies were given the name Aarna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aarnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 23 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Aarna, while Minnesota, Oregon, Maryland recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 87 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aarna
The name Aarna has its origins in the Sanskrit language, tracing back to ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Arna," which means "the bright red color of the rising sun." The name is believed to have been in use since the Vedic period, which spans from around 1500 BCE to 500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aarna can be found in the Mahabharata, a significant Sanskrit epic from ancient India. In this epic, Aarna is mentioned as the name of a princess from the Kuru dynasty. However, the exact time period or context in which this reference occurs is uncertain.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Aarna. One such person was Aarna Rajagopal (1939-2021), an Indian actress and dancer who gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s. She was known for her roles in several Tamil and Malayalam films and was also a talented Bharatanatyam dancer.
Another notable figure was Aarna Vainio (1932-2021), a Finnish politician who served as a member of the Parliament of Finland from 1975 to 1999. She was also a member of the Social Democratic Party of Finland and was actively involved in various social and environmental causes.
In the field of literature, Aarna Anttonen (1924-2013) was a Finnish writer and poet. She published several collections of poetry and was highly regarded for her lyrical works that explored themes of nature, love, and the human condition.
Moving to the realm of sports, Aarna Suuronen (1903-1991) was a Finnish athlete who competed in the javelin throw event at the 1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam. She was also a multiple-time national champion in her sport.
Lastly, Aarna Singa (1890-1970) was a notable figure in the Indian independence movement. She was a freedom fighter and activist who participated in the non-violent civil disobedience campaigns led by Mahatma Gandhi. Singa spent several years in British prisons for her involvement in the independence struggle.
While these are just a few examples, the name Aarna has been borne by individuals from various walks of life throughout history, each leaving their mark in their respective fields and contributing to the richness of the name's legacy.
People
Aarna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aarna as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with A
Other first names starting with A with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Aarna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aarna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 2,692 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aarna going back to 1880 and adjusting each cohort for expected survival using CDC actuarial life tables. The result is an age-weighted living-bearer count, not a raw birth total. That works out to about 1 in 127,323 US residents.
Is Aarna a common name?
We classify Aarna as "Rare". It ranks above 94.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 2,711 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aarna most popular?
The single biggest year for Aarna was 2021, when 268 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aarna is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
Is Aarna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aarna in the SSA data are female. You can see the full per-sex comparison in the gender distribution section above, which includes the latest year rank, birth count, and peak year for each sex.
Where does this data come from?
First-name figures come from the Social Security Administration's national baby name files, which cover every name on a birth certificate from 1880 to 2024. Living-bearer estimates layer in CDC actuarial life tables broken out by sex to account for mortality. The population baseline (342,754,338) is the Census Bureau's latest national estimate. You can read the full calculation on our methodology page.