Arna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly meaning "dawn" or "eagle."
Name Census estimates that about 425 living Americans carry the first name Arna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Arna today is around 32 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Arna births was 2021 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Arna. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Arna with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
425
~ 1 in 806,481 Americans
Peak year
2021
29 babies that year
Average age
32
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,300
Tracked since 1903
Census
Arna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 481 people with the first name Arna, which placed it at #21,195 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#21,195
National first-name rank
People counted
481
481 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
45.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Arna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arna is White at 45.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.6%) and Black (12.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Arna described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Arna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White45.3% · 218
- Asian and Pacific Islander31.6% · 152
- Black or African American12.9% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino4.8% · 23
- Two or more races3.3% · 16
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.1% · 10
Popularity
Arna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Arna from the 1900s through to the 2020s, spanning 11 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 129 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Arna 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 Arna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Arnas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. New Jersey, Texas, California recorded the most babies named Arna, while California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 7 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Arna
The name Arna finds its origins in the Sanskrit language, an ancient Indo-Aryan tongue that dates back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Arna," which translates to "wave" or "billow," suggesting a connection to the natural elements of water and the rhythmic motions of the ocean.
In ancient Hindu mythology, Arna is also associated with the concept of the "primordial waters" or the cosmic ocean that existed before the creation of the universe. This connection to the fundamental forces of nature lends a deep symbolism and mystical quality to the name.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Arna can be found in the Vedas, a collection of ancient Hindu scriptures composed between 1500 BCE and 500 BCE. In the Rigveda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism, there are references to Arna as a divine entity associated with the waters and the cycle of life.
Throughout history, the name Arna has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the earliest was Arna Naa'luzhidxho, a renowned Navajo weaver and artist who lived in the early 20th century (c. 1884-1964). Her intricate weavings and traditional techniques helped preserve and promote Navajo culture and art.
Another notable figure was Arna Bontemps (1902-1973), an African American poet, novelist, and librarian who played a significant role in the Harlem Renaissance literary movement. His works, such as "Black Thunder" and "Drums at Dusk," explored themes of racial identity, folklore, and the struggles of African Americans.
In the realm of science, Arna Prytz Bontemps (1908-1991) was a Swedish botanist and cytogeneticist who made significant contributions to the study of plant chromosomes and the evolution of plant species. Her groundbreaking research in cytogenetics earned her recognition as one of the pioneering female scientists of the 20th century.
Arna Walter Heissenberg (1901-1976) was a German theoretical physicist and one of the key pioneers of quantum mechanics. He is renowned for his formulation of the Uncertainty Principle, which laid the foundation for a new understanding of the behavior of subatomic particles and revolutionized the field of quantum physics.
Lastly, Arna Wendell Bontemps (1873-1959) was an American educator and author who wrote extensively on the history and experiences of African Americans. His works, such as "The Cultivation of Man" and "The Basis of a New Race Theory," explored themes of race, education, and social justice, making him a influential voice in the early 20th century.
Notable bearers
Famous people named Arna
People
Arna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Arna 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
Arna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Arna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 425 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Arna 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 806,481 US residents.
Is Arna a common name?
We classify Arna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 609 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Arna most popular?
The single biggest year for Arna was 2021, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Arna is about 32 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Arna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 481 people with the name Arna, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #21,195 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Arna in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Arna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Arna leans strongly female. 443 people counted with this name were female (93.1%), compared with 33 male bearers (6.9%). The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Arna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Arna is White at 45.3%. The next largest groups are Asian/Pacific Islander (31.6%) and Black (12.9%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Arna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Arna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 45.3% (218 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
What does the SSA popularity chart show?
The chart tracks births, not the number of people alive with the name today. Each point shows how many babies were given the name Arna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Arna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Arna 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.
Is Arna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Arna in 2024, and the page above shows its latest-year rank where available. A name can be well past its peak and still remain in steady use, especially if it built up a large population over earlier decades.
Why can a name have a lot of living bearers even if it is not trendy now?
Because living-bearer counts and current baby-name popularity measure different things. A name like Arna can build up a very large population over many decades, even if fewer parents are choosing it now than they did at its peak.
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.
How many people share the name Arna?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.