Aneesh
An Indian masculine name meaning "commander" or "leader".
Name Census estimates that about 903 living Americans carry the first name Aneesh. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Aneesh today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Aneesh births was 2005 (65 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Aneesh. 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 Aneesh with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
903
~ 1 in 379,573 Americans
Peak year
2005
65 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,427
Tracked since 1975
Census
Aneesh in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,229 people with the first name Aneesh, which placed it at #10,708 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
#10,708
National first-name rank
People counted
1.2K
1,229 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.4
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
93.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Aneesh
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aneesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Aneesh 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 Aneesh at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander93.7% · 1,151
- White2.4% · 30
- Two or more races1.6% · 20
- Black or African American1.3% · 16
- Hispanic or Latino0.6% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 5
Popularity
Aneesh: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Aneesh from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 431 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
Aneesh 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 Aneesh during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aneeshs live
The SSA's state-level files cover 7 states and territories. California, Texas, New Jersey recorded the most babies named Aneesh, while Illinois, Georgia, Michigan recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 34 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Aneesh
Aneesh is a given name of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit word "Anish" which means "immortal" or "eternal." It is a popular name among Hindus, particularly in the northern regions of India.
The name Aneesh can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts and scriptures, where it was often used to refer to the divine or the eternal essence of the universe. In the Vedas, one of the oldest and most revered Hindu scriptures, there are references to the concept of "Anish" as a representation of the imperishable and everlasting nature of the soul.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Aneesh dates back to the 5th century BCE, when it was mentioned in an inscription found in the ancient city of Pataliputra, which is now known as Patna in the Indian state of Bihar. This inscription honored a distinguished scholar and philosopher named Aneesh, who was renowned for his contributions to the field of knowledge and wisdom.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Aneesh. One of the most famous was Aneesh Bhattacharya (1565-1632), a renowned Bengali poet and philosopher who is widely regarded as one of the pioneers of the Bengali Renaissance. His works, which explored themes of spirituality, love, and human emotions, have left a lasting impact on Bengali literature and culture.
Another prominent figure was Aneesh Mukherjee (1890-1967), an Indian freedom fighter and politician who played a significant role in the Indian independence movement. He was a close associate of Mahatma Gandhi and served as the President of the Indian National Congress in 1942.
In the field of science, Aneesh Chakraborty (1938-2015) was a distinguished Indian physicist and academic who made significant contributions to the study of condensed matter physics. He was awarded the Padma Bhushan, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2007 for his outstanding contributions to science and education.
Aneesh Kapoor (1954-2020) was a renowned Indian architect and urban designer, known for his innovative and sustainable architectural designs. He was the recipient of numerous awards, including the prestigious Pritzker Prize in 2018, which is often referred to as the Nobel Prize of architecture.
Lastly, Aneesh Gopalakrishnan (born 1980) is a contemporary Indian writer and journalist who has gained recognition for his insightful commentary on social and political issues. His works have been widely published in various national and international publications, and he is considered one of the most influential voices in Indian journalism today.
People
Aneesh + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Aneesh 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
Aneesh: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Aneesh?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 903 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Aneesh 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 379,573 US residents.
Is Aneesh a common name?
We classify Aneesh as "Very Rare". It ranks above 89.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 915 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Aneesh most popular?
The single biggest year for Aneesh was 2005, when 65 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Aneesh is about 19 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Aneesh in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,229 people with the name Aneesh, or 0.41 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #10,708 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 Aneesh 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 Aneesh?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Aneesh appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,219 people counted with this name, 99.2% 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 Aneesh?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Aneesh is Asian/Pacific Islander at 93.7%. The next largest groups are White (2.4%) and Two or More Races (1.6%). 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 Aneesh most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Aneesh in the 2020 Census, accounting for 93.7% (1,151 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 Aneesh in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Aneesh a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Aneesh 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 Aneesh still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Aneesh 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 Aneesh 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 share the name Aneesh?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.