Abhimanyu
Heroic, mighty warrior; of arrogant and unbending courage.
Name Census estimates that about 276 living Americans carry the first name Abhimanyu. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Abhimanyu today is around 13 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Abhimanyu births was 2016 (18 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Abhimanyu. 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.
For a British comparison, Name Census UK has a UK baby-name profile for Abhimanyu with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
276
~ 1 in 1,241,864 Americans
Peak year
2016
18 babies that year
Average age
13
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,817
Tracked since 1993
Census
Abhimanyu in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 487 people with the first name Abhimanyu, which placed it at #20,996 in the published first-name tables. This is a snapshot of people who already had the name at the time of the Census.
The SSA sections elsewhere on this page answer a different question: how often parents gave the name to babies over time. The "people living today" figure on this page is different again: it is a current estimate built from SSA birth records and age-based survival rates, so the two numbers are not expected to match exactly.
2020 Census rank
#20,996
National first-name rank
People counted
487
487 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Abhimanyu
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhimanyu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself.
The bar chart below shows how people with the first name Abhimanyu described their own race and ethnicity on the 2020 Census form. The Census Bureau groups responses into six broad categories: White, Black or African American, Hispanic or Latino, Asian and Pacific Islander, American Indian and Alaska Native, and Two or More Races. When a category has too few respondents for a given name, the Bureau suppresses the figure to protect individual privacy, which is why some names show fewer than six slices.
Percentages are shown so the breakdown is easy to read across every published category. Because the 2020 Census first-name file also includes raw headcounts for each group, Name Census can show those alongside the percentages in the legend and hover tooltip.
Keep in mind that these are self-reported numbers. A first name does not determine a person's race or ethnicity, and the distribution you see here reflects the specific population who happened to carry the name Abhimanyu at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.4% · 450
- White3.7% · 18
- Two or more races1.4% · 7
- Black or African American1.0% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.8% · 4
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.6% · 3
Popularity
Abhimanyu: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Abhimanyu from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 118 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Abhimanyu remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Abhimanyu 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 Abhimanyu during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Abhimanyus live
Origin
Meaning and history of Abhimanyu
The name Abhimanyu has its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the liturgical language of Hinduism. It is a compound name formed by combining the words 'abhi' meaning 'toward' or 'against' and 'manyu' meaning 'anger' or 'fury'. The name can be interpreted to mean 'one who has a furious attitude' or 'one who is courageous against anger'.
The earliest mention of the name Abhimanyu can be found in the Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, which dates back to the 8th or 9th century BCE. In the epic, Abhimanyu was the son of Arjuna and Subhadra, and was a skilled warrior who learned the secrets of the Chakravyuha (a military formation) from his father while still in his mother's womb. He played a pivotal role in the Kurukshetra war, but was tragically killed at a young age.
One of the earliest recorded individuals with the name Abhimanyu was a 7th-century Indian mathematician and astronomer from present-day Gujarat. He authored the work 'Abhimanyu Bhatiya' which dealt with mathematical operations and astronomical calculations.
In the 11th century, Abhimanyu was also the name of a ruler of the Kalachuri dynasty in central India. He reigned from 1055 to 1070 CE and was known for his patronage of art and architecture.
During the Mughal era, Abhimanyu was the name of a 16th-century Hindu poet and scholar from Uttar Pradesh. He wrote extensively on Hindu philosophy and religious texts.
Another notable individual with the name Abhimanyu was a 19th-century Indian freedom fighter from Maharashtra. He actively participated in the Indian Rebellion of 1857 against the British East India Company.
Over the centuries, the name Abhimanyu has been popular among various Hindu communities, particularly in the northern and western regions of India. Its association with the courageous warrior from the Mahabharata has contributed to its enduring appeal and significance within Hindu culture.
People
Abhimanyu + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Abhimanyu 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
Abhimanyu: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Abhimanyu?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 276 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Abhimanyu 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 1,241,864 US residents.
Is Abhimanyu a common name?
We classify Abhimanyu as "Very Rare". It ranks above 78.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 279 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Abhimanyu most popular?
The single biggest year for Abhimanyu was 2016, when 18 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Abhimanyu is about 13 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Abhimanyu in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 487 people with the name Abhimanyu, or 0.16 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,996 in the national Census ranking for first names.
Why is the Census count different from the living estimate?
Because they measure different things. The Census figure is a count of people who had the name Abhimanyu in 2020. The living estimate aims to answer a current question instead: how many people with the name are alive today, based on SSA birth records and age-based survival rates. Since one number is a 2020 snapshot and the other is a present-day estimate, they are not expected to be identical.
What does the Census say about the gender split for Abhimanyu?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Abhimanyu appears almost entirely male. Of the 485 people counted with this name, 99.8% were male and only a very small share were female. The Census view is a snapshot of people living with the name in 2020, while the SSA section above tracks births across time.
What does the Census say about the background of people named Abhimanyu?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Abhimanyu is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.4%. The next largest groups are White (3.7%) and Two or More Races (1.4%). These figures describe the people who had the name in 2020, not any inherent property of the name itself. The percentages in the chart above come from self-reported race and Hispanic-origin responses in the 2020 Census.
Which group reports the name Abhimanyu most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Abhimanyu in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.4% (450 people in the published table).
Why can the Census sex total and race total differ slightly?
The Census Bureau published separate 2020 tables for sex and for race/Hispanic origin, and the released figures can differ slightly because of privacy protection in the public files. That is why this page treats the gender section and the race/origin section as two related snapshots instead of forcing them into one identical total.
Does every first name have Census demographic data?
No. The public Census first-name release only includes names that met the Bureau's publication rules, so many rarer names in the SSA files have no Census demographic snapshot. When that happens, the SSA trend, gender history, and state sections still appear, but the 2020 Census demographic sections are omitted.
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 Abhimanyu in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Abhimanyu a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Abhimanyu 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 Abhimanyu still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Abhimanyu 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 Abhimanyu 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.
How many people are named Abhimanyu?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.