Etymology & Historical Origin of the Baby Name Aryan

Aryan is a name that ultimately comes from Sanskrit (ārya) meaning “noble, high-born”. From an English-speaking perspective, Aryan refers to the race of people belonging to the Indo-European ethnic and language groups. This essentially includes Albanian, Armenian, Celtic, Germanic, Greek (Hellenic), Indo-Iranian (including Indians), Italian/Latin (Italic) and Slavic (including Baltic). The term Aryan has basically been replaced with terms like Indo-European or Indo-Iranian, but for all intents and purposes it’s merely a word describing certain peoples who evolved from the same language family. For comparison purposes, Hebrew and Arabic are from the Afro-Asiatic language family; Swahili and Yoruba are from the Niger-Congo language family; Chinese is Sino-Tibetan; Japanese, Korean and Turkic are Altaic languages; Hungarian and Finnish are Uralic; and then there are languages completely isolated from the rest and are a language family unto themselves, e.g., the Basque and Eskimo-Aleut. Unfortunately the term Aryan was corrupted by Nazi Germany when they used it as a general term for their own sick ideology. Aryans include Germanic people (Germans, Nordic people, Anglo-Saxons and the such) which Germans took to mean the “master race” or the purest race among all Aryans because they claimed to be less racially mixed than other Aryans (like the Celts, Greeks, Slavs, etc). As a result of the German’s corruption of this term, Aryan became a word with fairly heavy negative connotations after WWII among Westerners and it’s often associated with neo-Nazi skinheads full of small-minded prejudice and extreme intolerance. For Indians, however, the name Aryan still means exactly what the original etymology intended: “noble and high-born” (also related to a Greek word for “aristocrat”). Aryan is the seventh most popular boy’s name in all of India – given its population size – that means there’s a lot of Aryans running around! Aryan is also used with so-so frequency in the countries of Norway, Canada and the United States. But we’re guessing mainly among the Indian citizenry.

All About the Baby Name – Aryan

Personality

OF THE BOY NAME ARYAN

The number Five personality loves the excitement of life and can easily adapt to all situations. As natural adventurers, these personalities thrive on the new and unexpected and prefer to be in constant motion. It makes them feel alive. They'll stir up some action if there's not enough around, and as inherent risk-takers they enjoy pushing the envelope. Naturally rebellious, the Five personality has no fear and never resists change.  Traveling and new experiences feed their souls. Fives are very social and attract friends with ease. People love to be around the Five fun-loving and exciting energy.  This is also a lucky number in numerology (like the Threes), so fortune seems to shine on them, helped along by their own optimism and good-nature. Fives have a quick wit, a cerebral mind, and are generally very persuasive. 

Popularity

OF THE BOY NAME ARYAN

Aryan has only been on the American male naming chart since 2002. We think it’s safe to assume that is was the Indian-American population who brought this name to the Top 1000 list. Most Americans with European ancestry would shy away from this name given its connection to the Nazi ideology. Without that unfortunate history, however, Aryan is simply a celebratory word with “noble” meaning. It’s funny when you think about it; the Hindu-speaking Indians come from the same Aryan language family as Iranian, German, English, Italian, Swedish, Gaelic, Greek, French, Spanish, etc. And all of us get the language family name (Aryan) from the Indians (Sanskrit). I mean, serious, if you were in charge of naming your own family wouldn’t you pick a “noble” and “high-born” name, too? I think we all would. For instance the “Semite” (Hebrew) term means “descendents of Shem”, Shem being one of Noah’s three sons. Arguably that’s a boastful etymology as well, since Noah (and therefore Shem) was especially chosen by God to refresh the human race. We’re certain that if it wasn’t for those damn Nazis, Aryan would be a popular name among English-speakers as well.

Quick Facts

ON ARYAN

GENDER:

Boy

ORIGIN:

English

NUMBER OF SYLLABLES:

3

RANKING POPULARITY:

692

PRONUNCIATION:

AIR-e-an

SIMPLE MEANING:

Noble, high-born

Characteristics

OF ARYAN

Freedom-loving

Adventurous

Adaptable

Intellectual

Easygoing

Progressive

Sensual

Cultural References to the Baby Name – Aryan

Literary Characters

OF THE BABY NAME ARYAN

We cannot find any significant literary characters by the name of Aryan

Childrens Books

ON THE BABY NAME ARYAN

We cannot find any childrens books with the first name Aryan


Popular Songs

ON ARYAN

Aryan Mist
a song by Van Morrison

Famous People

NAMED ARYAN

We cannot find any celebrities or significantly famous people with the first name Aryan.

Children of Famous People

NAMED ARYAN

We cannot find any children of famous people with the first name Aryan

Historic Figures

WITH THE NAME ARYAN

We cannot find any historically significant people with the first name Aryan