Ananth
An Indian masculine name meaning "infinite" or "eternal".
Name Census estimates that about 231 living Americans carry the first name Ananth. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ananth today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ananth births was 2004 (15 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ananth. 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 Ananth with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
231
~ 1 in 1,483,785 Americans
Peak year
2004
15 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2024 SSA rank
#7,253
Tracked since 1984
Census
Ananth in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 622 people with the first name Ananth, which placed it at #17,634 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
#17,634
National first-name rank
People counted
622
622 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.8% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ananth
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ananth is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Ananth 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 Ananth at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.8% · 596
- White1.9% · 12
- Two or more races1.3% · 8
- Black or African American0.5% · 3
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 2
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 1
Popularity
Ananth: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ananth from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 104 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2000s peak, Ananth remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ananth 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 Ananth 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 Ananth
The given name Ananth has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language that originated on the Indian subcontinent. The name is derived from the Sanskrit word "ananta," which means "endless" or "infinite." This name is associated with Hindu mythology and culture, particularly with the serpent god Ananta Shesha, who is depicted as a massive celestial serpent with multiple heads and serves as the couch upon which Lord Vishnu rests during his yogic sleep between the dissolution and recreation of the universe.
In Hindu scriptures, such as the Puranas and the Bhagavata Purana, Ananta Shesha is revered as a powerful and benevolent entity who supports the entire universe on his hoods. The name Ananth is often given to boys as a way to honor and invoke the blessings of this divine serpent, symbolizing eternity, stability, and the cyclical nature of existence.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Ananth can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this text, Ananth is mentioned as the name of a warrior who fought alongside the Pandava prince Arjuna during the great Kurukshetra war.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Ananth. One prominent example is Ananth Nag (1949-2008), an acclaimed Indian actor and film director who primarily worked in the Kannada film industry. Another notable figure is Ananth Padmanabhan (born 1957), an Indian-American scientist and entrepreneur who has made significant contributions to the field of information technology.
Ananth Narayan Bhatt (1888-1957) was an Indian independence activist and a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi. He played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement and was imprisoned several times for his involvement in the non-violent resistance against British colonial rule.
Ananth Krishnan (born 1983) is a renowned Indian journalist and author who has covered various global events and conflicts. He has worked for reputable publications such as The Hindu and has written extensively on international affairs, particularly on the India-China relationship.
Ananth Mahadevan (born 1962) is a celebrated Indian filmmaker, actor, and screenwriter who has directed critically acclaimed films such as "Dil Vil Pyar Vyar" and "Aksar." He has received numerous accolades for his work, including National Film Awards and Filmfare Awards.
People
Ananth + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ananth 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
Ananth: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ananth?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 231 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ananth 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 1,483,785 US residents.
Is Ananth a common name?
We classify Ananth as "Very Rare". It ranks above 76.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 234 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ananth most popular?
The single biggest year for Ananth was 2004, when 15 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ananth is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ananth in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 622 people with the name Ananth, or 0.21 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #17,634 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 Ananth 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 Ananth?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ananth appears almost entirely male. Of the 622 people counted with this name, 99.5% 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 Ananth?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ananth is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.8%. The next largest groups are White (1.9%) and Two or More Races (1.3%). 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 Ananth most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ananth in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.8% (596 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 Ananth in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ananth a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ananth 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 Ananth still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ananth 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 Ananth 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 Ananth?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.