Akshaya
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning eternal, imperishable, or inexhaustible.
Name Census estimates that about 579 living Americans carry the first name Akshaya. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Akshaya today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Akshaya births was 2011 (42 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Akshaya. 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 Akshaya with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
579
~ 1 in 591,976 Americans
Peak year
2011
42 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#6,620
Tracked since 1996
Census
Akshaya in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 917 people with the first name Akshaya, which placed it at #13,247 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
#13,247
National first-name rank
People counted
917
917 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Akshaya
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akshaya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Akshaya 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 Akshaya at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.0% · 880
- White2.2% · 20
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.0% · 9
- Two or more races0.4% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 3
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
Popularity
Akshaya: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Akshaya 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 318 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Akshaya 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 Akshaya during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Akshayas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. Texas, California, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Akshaya, while Virginia, Illinois, New Jersey recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 19 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Akshaya
The name Akshaya finds its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that served as the lingua franca of the Indian subcontinent. The word is derived from the combination of the Sanskrit prefix 'a,' meaning 'not,' and 'kshaya,' which translates to 'decay' or 'diminution.' Thus, the name Akshaya carries the meaning of 'imperishable,' 'eternal,' or 'endless.'
This name holds profound significance in Hindu mythology and philosophy, where it is often associated with the concept of the imperishable and eternal nature of the soul or the divine. It is a name frequently invoked in sacred texts and mantras, reflecting the belief in the everlasting and indestructible essence of existence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Akshaya can be found in the ancient Hindu epic, the Mahabharata. Here, it is mentioned as one of the epithets of Lord Krishna, the revered divine figure, emphasizing his eternal and imperishable nature.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Akshaya. One of the earliest examples is Akshaya Vata, a renowned Buddhist monk and scholar who lived in the 7th century CE. He is credited with translating significant Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese, contributing to the spread of Buddhism in East Asia.
In the 12th century, Akshaya Kalpa, a celebrated Indian mathematician and astronomer, made significant contributions to the field of mathematics. His works, particularly on algebra and arithmetic, were widely influential and played a crucial role in the development of mathematical thought in the Indian subcontinent.
Another prominent figure was Akshaya Datta, a Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 16th century. He is renowned for his poetic works, which include the celebrated Chandi Mangala, a narrative poem depicting the goddess Chandi's victory over the demon Mahishasura.
In the realm of Indian classical music, Akshaya Mohan Banerjee, born in 1888, was a renowned singer and composer of Hindustani classical music. He is credited with reviving and popularizing the Khyal style of singing and is considered a pioneer in the field of Indian classical music.
Akshaya Patra, born in 1945, is a modern-day spiritual leader and social reformer from India. He founded the Akshaya Patra Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides mid-day meals to millions of underprivileged children across India, promoting education and addressing childhood malnutrition.
People
Akshaya + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Akshaya 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
Akshaya: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Akshaya?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 579 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Akshaya 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 591,976 US residents.
Is Akshaya a common name?
We classify Akshaya as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 585 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Akshaya most popular?
The single biggest year for Akshaya was 2011, when 42 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Akshaya is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Akshaya in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 917 people with the name Akshaya, or 0.30 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #13,247 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 Akshaya 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 Akshaya?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Akshaya leans strongly female. 835 people counted with this name were female (90.9%), compared with 84 male bearers (9.1%). 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 Akshaya?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Akshaya is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.0%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and American Indian/Alaska Native (1.0%). 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 Akshaya most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Akshaya in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.0% (880 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 Akshaya in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Akshaya a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Akshaya in the SSA data are female. 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 Akshaya still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Akshaya 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 Akshaya 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 Akshaya?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.