Sanskrit2 syllablesVedic deity
Meaning: the god of the waters and of cosmic order.
Varun
| Origin | Sanskrit — varuṇa, the name of one of the oldest gods of the Rigveda |
|---|---|
| Meaning | Traditionally linked to the root vṛ, to cover or encompass; the derivation is not settled |
| Pronunciation | VAH-roon (two syllables); the Sanskrit has a retroflex ṇ, va-ru-ṇa |
| Popularity | Outside the current U.S. top 100; common in India, especially in the north |
| Variants | Varuna (Sanskrit), Barun (Bengali), Varoon, Varunan (Tamil) |
| Nicknames | Varu |
| Out in space | 20000 Varuna, a large object beyond Neptune, named for him in 2001 |
History & meaning
Varuṇa is one of the very oldest gods in the Rigveda, and the interesting thing about him is that he did not stay the same. In the early hymns he is not primarily a water god at all. He is the guardian of ṛta, the order that holds the cosmos and human conduct to the same standard, and he is described in terms of surveillance rather than storm: he knows the track of ships on the sea, the path of birds through the air, the road of the wind. Wrongdoers he binds with his pāśa, his noose. The hymns addressed to him are the most confessional poetry in the Rigveda, which is not a confessional book; one of them asks him outright what the great sin was that he should want to destroy a friend who praises him.
By the age of the epics and the Puranas he has been demoted. Indra takes the sovereignty, Vishnu later takes rather more, and Varuṇa settles into a narrower office as lord of the oceans and rivers and dikpāla of the west. That is the Varuṇa most Indians picture now, invoked when rain is wanted. He remains one of the Ādityas, the sons of Aditi who also give us Aditya, and in the oldest layer he leads them. One tidy piece of folklore to set aside: the old textbook comparison between Varuṇa and Greek Ouranos is no longer widely accepted. The broader set is at Indian names.
Why parents choose it
Varun is a Vedic name that has never felt antique. It is short, it is easy in English, and it comes attached to water and to fairness rather than to conquest, which appeals to families who want mythology without a battlefield.
Middle names for Varun
Stress falls on the first syllable, so an end-stressed middle name balances it: Varun Aditya, Varun Kabir, Varun Elias, Varun Suraj. Read the whole thing aloud with the surname attached, as the middle names guide recommends.
Famous Varuns
Varun Dhawan is one of the most bankable actors in Hindi cinema. Varun Chakravarthy bowls mystery spin for India after starting out as an architect. Varun Grover wrote the songs for Masaan and the first season of Sacred Games.
Consider instead
Arnav means the ocean itself, without the deity. Akash is the sky and ether, the element next door. Aditya is the other Aditya name in common use and links the two directly.