Anaja
A Hindu feminine name meaning "unconquered, undefeated".
Name Census estimates that about 221 living Americans carry the first name Anaja. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anaja today is around 22 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anaja births was 2001 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anaja. 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.
People living today
221
~ 1 in 1,550,925 Americans
Peak year
2001
22 babies that year
Average age
22
years old
2024 SSA rank
#15,408
Tracked since 1995
Census
Anaja in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 199 people with the first name Anaja, which placed it at #38,518 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
#38,518
National first-name rank
People counted
199
199 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Black or African American
82.9% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anaja
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaja is Black at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Anaja 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 Anaja at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Black or African American82.9% · 165
- Hispanic or Latino7.0% · 14
- Two or more races5.5% · 11
- Asian and Pacific Islander2.5% · 5
- White2.0% · 4
Popularity
Anaja: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anaja from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 143 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anaja 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 Anaja during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anajas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Anaja
The name Anaja finds its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is one of the oldest languages in the world, tracing back to ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "anaja," meaning "without blemish" or "unblemished." This name was commonly used in various parts of the Indian subcontinent, particularly in regions where Sanskrit was widely spoken and studied.
In ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, such as the Vedas and Puranas, there are references to several characters and deities with names that bear a resemblance to Anaja. For instance, the name Anjana is mentioned in the Ramayana, one of the two major Sanskrit epics, as the name of the wife of the sage Rishi Kashyapa.
One of the earliest recorded examples of the name Anaja can be found in the writings of the renowned Indian philosopher and scholar, Adi Shankara, who lived between 788 and 820 CE. In his commentaries on the Brahma Sutras, he mentions an individual named Anaja as one of his disciples.
Throughout history, several notable figures have borne the name Anaja. One such individual was Anaja Bhatta (1550-1630 CE), a renowned scholar and author from the Vijayanagar Empire in southern India. He wrote extensively on topics such as grammar, logic, and philosophy, and his works were highly influential in his time.
Another prominent figure with the name Anaja was Anaja Devi (1876-1942), a social reformer and advocate for women's education in British India. She founded several schools and organizations aimed at improving the lives of women and promoting their empowerment.
In the field of literature, Anaja Rau (1909-1983) was a renowned Indian writer and novelist. Her works, which explored themes of identity, culture, and tradition, were widely acclaimed and translated into multiple languages.
Anaja Dhar (1928-2011) was a distinguished Indian classical dancer and choreographer. She was instrumental in popularizing and preserving the Kathak dance form, and her contributions to the field of dance were recognized with several prestigious awards and honors.
Anaja Singh (1935-2020) was a respected Indian politician and social activist. She served as a member of the Indian Parliament and was known for her work in promoting environmental conservation and rural development.
People
Anaja + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anaja 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
Anaja: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anaja?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 221 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anaja 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 1,550,925 US residents.
Is Anaja a common name?
We classify Anaja as "Very Rare". It ranks above 75.5% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 225 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anaja most popular?
The single biggest year for Anaja was 2001, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anaja is about 22 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anaja in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 199 people with the name Anaja, or 0.07 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #38,518 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 Anaja 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 Anaja?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anaja leans strongly female. 196 people counted with this name were female (98.5%), compared with 3 male bearers (1.5%). 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 Anaja?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anaja is Black at 82.9%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (7.0%) and Two or More Races (5.5%). 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 Anaja most often in the Census?
Black is the largest reported group for people named Anaja in the 2020 Census, accounting for 82.9% (165 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 Anaja in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anaja a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anaja 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 Anaja still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anaja 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 Anaja 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 Anaja?
Find out how many Americans are named Anaja on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.