Aayu
A Sanskrit name meaning "life" or "longevity."
Name Census estimates that about 12 living Americans carry the first name Aayu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aayu today is around 9 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aayu births was 2013 (6 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aayu. 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.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Aayu. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
12
~ 1 in 28,562,862 Americans
Peak year
2013
6 babies that year
Average age
9
years old
2020 SSA rank
#10,608
Tracked since 2013
Popularity
Aayu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aayu from the 2010s through to the 2020s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 6 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
Aayu 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 Aayu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aayu
The name Aayu is a Hindu and Sanskrit name, with its origins traced back to ancient India. The word 'Aayu' is derived from the Sanskrit word 'Ayush,' which means life, longevity, or lifespan. In the ancient Hindu scriptures and texts, the word 'Aayu' symbolized good health, long life, and prosperity.
One of the earliest recorded references of the name Aayu can be found in the Vedas, which are the oldest Hindu scriptures dating back to around 1500 BCE. In the Rig Veda, one of the four canonical sacred texts of Hinduism, there are mentions of individuals with names related to 'Aayu,' such as 'Aayushmat' and 'Aayushya.'
Throughout history, the name Aayu has been carried by several notable individuals. One of the earliest recorded instances is that of Aayu, a sage and philosopher who lived in the 7th century BCE and is mentioned in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Another notable individual was Aayu, a king of the Ikshvaku dynasty, who ruled in the ancient Indian kingdom of Kosala around the 6th century BCE.
In the realm of Hindu mythology, Aayu is also the name of one of the sons of the legendary king Pururavas and the celestial nymph Urvashi. This mythological figure is mentioned in the Bhagavata Purana, an important Hindu scripture composed between the 8th and 9th centuries CE.
During the medieval period, a renowned poet and scholar named Aayu Bhatta lived in the 11th century CE. He was a prolific writer and is best known for his poetic work, the Haravijaya, which is a celebrated Sanskrit mahakavya (epic poem).
Another notable individual with the name Aayu was Aayu Pandit, a renowned astrologer and scholar who lived in the 16th century CE during the reign of the Mughal Emperor Akbar. He was highly respected for his astrological knowledge and served as the court astrologer for the Mughal court.
People
Aayu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aayu 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
Aayu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aayu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 12 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aayu 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 28,562,862 US residents.
Is Aayu a common name?
We classify Aayu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 32.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 12 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aayu most popular?
The single biggest year for Aayu was 2013, when 6 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aayu is about 9 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
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 Aayu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aayu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aayu in the SSA data are male. 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 Aayu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aayu 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 Aayu 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.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only covers names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files do not have a published Census demographic snapshot. In those cases, the page still shows the SSA trend, gender history, and state data.
How many people share the name Aayu?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.