Arnaaz is likely from Persian-influenced South Asian usage and suggests pride, elegance, or grace.
Arnaaz — also rendered Arnavaz or Arnawaz — is one of the great names of ancient Iranian mythology, preserved for nearly a thousand years in Ferdowsi's monumental epic the Shahnameh, completed around 1010 CE. In that text, Arnaaz is a legendary princess of Yemen, daughter of King Sarv, who along with her sister Shahrnaz is abducted by the serpent-shouldered tyrant Zahhak, whose monstrous shoulders required the daily feeding of two human brains to the snakes that grew from them. Both sisters endure captivity until the hero Fereydun overthrows Zahhak and liberates them — a foundational myth of good triumphing over monstrous tyranny.
Arnaaz subsequently becomes one of Fereydun's consorts and her name echoes through Iranian cultural memory as a symbol of beauty preserved through darkness. Linguistically, the name appears to derive from Old Iranian roots, with possible connections to words evoking grace, splendor, or nobility. Its form predates the Islamic conquest of Persia and belongs to the pre-Islamic Zoroastrian cultural stratum that Ferdowsi so deliberately preserved in his epic, writing in Persian rather than the then-dominant Arabic precisely to safeguard this heritage.
The name is thus an act of cultural memory simply by existing. In contemporary Iran and among Persian diaspora communities, Arnaaz is a rare but recognized name, carrying the prestige of its ancient literary provenance. The 2022 Miss Universe winner Harnaaz Sandhu brought a phonetically related name to global attention, sparking renewed interest in this family of names. Parents choosing Arnaaz today are making a choice steeped in the oldest layers of Persian civilization.