Aryan

Where Aryan comes from

Originally from Sanskrit आर्य (ā́rya, “noble; noble one”) and + -n. The Sanskrit word is an autonym originally from Proto-Indo-Iranian *áryas (see there for more). Borrowed into English in the 19th century, at first as a term for the Indo-Iranian languages, and later partly extended to the Indo-European languages and peoples following a theory by Friedrich Schlegel that connected the Indo-Iranian words arya/ā́rya with German Ehre (“honor”) and some older Germanic names, thus assuming that it was the original Indo-European autonym meaning "the honorable people". The original meaning of the Indo-Iranian autonym and its possible Indo-European origin/cognates are disputed (see the Wikipedia article for further details). The same Proto-Indo-Iranian root is the ultimate source of the country name Iran. Also the doublet of Arya.
— Wiktionary's entry for Aryan
  • 3 syllables
Along the way
  1. 1964
    Aryan Kaganof born
    South African writer and film director
  2. 1978
    First appearance
    #5,772 among boys, 5 babies — the first year at least five got the name.
  3. 1999
    Aryan Tari born
    Norwegian chess player
  4. 1999
    Mostly boys from here
    Until now more girls than boys got the name; from this year it's the other way round, and has stayed that way.
  5. 2007
    Peak, #613
    406 babies named Aryan — more than any year before or since.
In the dictionary
  • A male given name of Indian usage.
Namesakes
  • Aryan Tari · Norwegian chess player, born 1999
  • Aryan Kaganof · South African writer and film director, born 1964
  • Aryan Chopra · Indian chess player, born 2001
  • Aryan Simhadri · actor, born 2006
  • Aryan Vaid · Indian actor, born 1976

Sources: the origin note and dictionary entry are quoted from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0); the namesakes come from Wikidata (CC0); the milestones are worked out from the SSA record.