Anik
A masculine name of Arabic origin meaning "unique" or "precious".
Name Census estimates that about 412 living Americans carry the first name Anik. It is a predominantly male name (95.9% of registrations). The average person named Anik today is around 14 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anik births was 2012 (29 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anik. 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 Anik with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
412
~ 1 in 831,928 Americans
Peak year
2012
29 babies that year
Average age
14
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,562
Tracked since 1985
Census
Anik in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 711 people with the first name Anik, which placed it at #16,004 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
#16,004
National first-name rank
People counted
711
711 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
56.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anik
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anik is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Anik 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 Anik at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander56.4% · 401
- White30.4% · 216
- Hispanic or Latino6.0% · 43
- Two or more races4.8% · 34
- Black or African American2.0% · 14
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 3
Gender
Gender distribution for Anik
Anik leans heavily male at 95.9% of total registrations, but 17 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Anik as a male name
- Ranked #4,562 in 2024
- 22 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2018 (28 births)
Anik as a female name
- Ranked #17,124 in 2012
- 5 female births in 2012
- Peak: 1999 (7 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Anik on both sides of the split. Of the 709 people counted with this name, 482 were male (68.0%) and 227 were female (32.0%).
Popularity
Anik: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anik from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 5 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 208 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Anik remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Anik 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 Anik during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aniks live
The SSA's state-level files cover 3 states and territories. California, New York, Texas recorded the most babies named Anik, while Texas, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 9 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anik
The name Anik has its origins in the Sanskrit language and is believed to have first emerged in ancient India. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "anika," which means "army" or "multitude." The name was likely given to children with the hope that they would grow to be strong and powerful, like a mighty army.
In some Hindu scriptures, such as the Mahabharata, there are references to characters with names similar to Anik, suggesting that the name may have been in use as early as the 4th century BCE. However, the first recorded instance of the name Anik itself is found in ancient Indian texts from the 6th century CE.
One of the earliest known individuals to bear the name Anik was Anik Bhattacharya, a renowned Bengali philosopher and scholar who lived in the 11th century CE. He is credited with writing several influential works on Hindu philosophy and logic.
In the 12th century, there was a famous Indian poet named Anik Dutta, whose works were widely celebrated for their elegant use of language and vivid imagery. Some of his poems are still studied in literature courses today.
During the Mughal Empire in the 16th century, there was a notable military commander named Anik Khan, who played a crucial role in several important battles and campaigns. His bravery and strategic prowess earned him a place in the historical records of the time.
Another notable figure was Anik Ghosh, a Bengali writer and social reformer who lived in the 19th century. He was a passionate advocate for women's education and wrote extensively on the need for social and educational reforms in India.
In more recent times, one of the most well-known individuals with the name Anik was Anik Dutta, a celebrated Bengali filmmaker and screenwriter who was born in 1965. His films often tackled social issues and were critically acclaimed for their thought-provoking themes and realistic portrayal of life in modern India.
These are just a few examples of the many individuals throughout history who have borne the name Anik. While its origins can be traced back to ancient India, the name has since spread to other parts of the world and continues to be used today, carrying with it a rich cultural heritage and historical significance.
People
Anik + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anik 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
Anik: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anik?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 412 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anik 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 831,928 US residents.
Is Anik a common name?
We classify Anik as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.6% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 416 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anik most popular?
The single biggest year for Anik was 2012, when 29 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anik is about 14 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anik in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 711 people with the name Anik, or 0.24 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #16,004 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 Anik 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 Anik?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Anik on both sides of the split. Of the 709 people counted with this name, 482 were male (68.0%) and 227 were female (32.0%). 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 Anik?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anik is Asian/Pacific Islander at 56.4%. The next largest groups are White (30.4%) and Hispanic (6.0%). 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 Anik most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Anik in the 2020 Census, accounting for 56.4% (401 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 Anik in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anik a male name?
Yes, 95.9% of people registered as Anik 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 Anik still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anik 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 Anik 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 Anik?
Find out how many people have the name Anik on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — a quick modern estimate with the living-bearer count front and centre.