Ambi
A feminine Hindi name meaning "Mother's lap" or "Mother's embrace".
Name Census estimates that about 21 living Americans carry the first name Ambi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Ambi today is around 47 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ambi births was 1981 (12 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ambi. 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 Ambi. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
21
~ 1 in 16,321,635 Americans
Peak year
1981
12 babies that year
Average age
47
years old
1981 SSA rank
#5,583
Tracked since 1978
Popularity
Ambi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ambi from the 1970s through to the 1980s, spanning 2 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1980s, with 18 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
Ambi 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 Ambi 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 Ambi
The name Ambi is believed to have its origins in Sanskrit, an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated in the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "ambu," which means "water" or "nectar." This suggests that the name Ambi may have been initially associated with concepts of purity, nourishment, and life-sustaining elements.
In Hindu mythology, the word "ambu" is often used in reference to the divine nectar of immortality, known as "amrita." This nectar was said to be obtained from the churning of the cosmic ocean, a pivotal event in Hindu cosmology. As a result, the name Ambi may have held spiritual significance, symbolizing the quest for eternal life or the attainment of divine wisdom.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ambi can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. Here, Ambi is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava princes during the great Kurukshetra war. While the exact date of this epic is uncertain, it is believed to have been composed between the 8th and 4th centuries BCE.
In the medieval period, the name Ambi gained prominence in various regions of the Indian subcontinent. One notable figure was Ambi Bhikshu, a Buddhist monk and scholar who lived in the 7th century CE. He is credited with translating several important Buddhist texts from Sanskrit into Chinese, facilitating the spread of Buddhist teachings across East Asia.
Another historical figure with the name Ambi was Ambi Rana Bhatt, a 16th-century Rajput warrior and ruler of the princely state of Mewar in present-day Rajasthan, India. He is renowned for his valor and leadership during the conflicts against the Mughal Empire, defending his kingdom from the invading forces.
In the realm of literature, Ambi Singh Duggal was a prominent 20th-century Punjabi writer and poet from India. Born in 1917, he made significant contributions to Punjabi literature and was honored with several prestigious awards, including the Sahitya Akademi Award and the Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors.
Ambi Subramaniam, born in 1923, was a renowned Indian classical musician and Carnatic vocalist. He was recognized for his mastery of the Carnatic music tradition and received numerous accolades, including the Sangita Kalanidhi, one of the highest honors in Carnatic music.
It is worth noting that while the name Ambi has its roots in Sanskrit and Indian culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and has been adopted by individuals from various backgrounds and nationalities throughout history.
People
Ambi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ambi 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
Ambi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ambi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 21 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ambi 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 16,321,635 US residents.
Is Ambi a common name?
We classify Ambi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 40.8% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 23 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ambi most popular?
The single biggest year for Ambi was 1981, when 12 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ambi is about 47 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 Ambi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ambi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ambi 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 Ambi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ambi 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 Ambi 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 Americans are named Ambi?
See how many people share the name Ambi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.