Anahid
A feminine name of Persian origin meaning "immaculate", "unblemished", or "virgin".
Name Census estimates that about 68 living Americans carry the first name Anahid. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anahid today is around 31 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anahid births was 1991 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anahid. 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 Anahid with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Anahid. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
68
~ 1 in 5,040,505 Americans
Peak year
1991
10 babies that year
Average age
31
years old
2009 SSA rank
#15,398
Tracked since 1924
Census
Anahid in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,142 people with the first name Anahid, which placed it at #11,315 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
#11,315
National first-name rank
People counted
1.1K
1,142 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
91.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anahid
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anahid is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Anahid 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 Anahid at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White91.4% · 1,044
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 66
- Two or more races1.9% · 22
- Asian and Pacific Islander0.5% · 6
- Black or African American0.4% · 4
Popularity
Anahid: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anahid from the 1920s through to the 2000s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 32 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
Anahid 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 Anahid during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anahids live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anahid
The name Anahid is derived from the Armenian language and culture. It is the Armenian form of the Persian name Anahita, which refers to the ancient Iranian goddess of fertility, healing, and wisdom. The name Anahita is believed to have originated from the Old Persian words "ana" meaning "immaculate" and "hita" meaning "untied or undefiled."
In ancient Persian mythology, Anahita was one of the most revered deities. She was associated with water, fertility, and the cosmic world order. Anahita was often depicted as a beautiful woman wearing a long robe and a crown, carrying a staff or a scepter. Her worship was widespread in ancient Iran and even extended to parts of Asia Minor and the Caucasus region.
The earliest recorded use of the name Anahid can be traced back to the 5th century CE in Armenia, where it was adopted as a feminine name after the Christianization of the country. The name became popular among Armenian Christians, who associated it with the concept of purity and chastity.
Throughout history, there have been several notable women who bore the name Anahid. One of the earliest was Anahid Ter-Ghazaryan (1900-1983), an Armenian painter and artist who is considered a pioneer of modern art in Armenia. Another prominent figure was Anahid Ajemian (1924-2016), an American singer and actress of Armenian descent, who performed in numerous Broadway musicals and television shows.
In the realm of literature, Anahid Khachatrian (1924-2022) was a renowned Armenian writer and poet, known for her poetic works that explored themes of love, nature, and Armenian identity. Anahid Barsumian (1933-2021) was an Armenian-American linguist and scholar, who made significant contributions to the study of Armenian language and literature.
Additionally, Anahid Mirzakhanian (1928-1999) was a prominent Soviet-Armenian chess player and International Master, who won multiple national and international tournaments during her career.
These are just a few examples of notable individuals who have carried the name Anahid throughout history, reflecting its rich cultural heritage and the diverse achievements of those who have borne this ancient name.
People
Anahid + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anahid 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
Anahid: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anahid?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 68 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anahid 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 5,040,505 US residents.
Is Anahid a common name?
We classify Anahid as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 82 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anahid most popular?
The single biggest year for Anahid was 1991, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anahid is about 31 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anahid in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,142 people with the name Anahid, or 0.38 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #11,315 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 Anahid 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 Anahid?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anahid appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,149 people counted with this name, 99.7% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Anahid?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anahid is White at 91.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (5.8%) and Two or More Races (1.9%). 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 Anahid most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Anahid in the 2020 Census, accounting for 91.4% (1,044 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 Anahid in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anahid a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anahid 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 Anahid still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anahid 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 Anahid 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 have the name Anahid?
For a quick modern take, check how many people have the name Anahid on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org.