Ankit
Sanskrit name meaning blessed, honored or worshipped.
Name Census estimates that about 778 living Americans carry the first name Ankit. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Ankit today is around 29 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Ankit births was 1998 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Ankit. 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 Ankit with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
778
~ 1 in 440,558 Americans
Peak year
1998
41 babies that year
Average age
29
years old
2020 SSA rank
#12,147
Tracked since 1978
Census
Ankit in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,441 people with the first name Ankit, which placed it at #5,098 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
#5,098
National first-name rank
People counted
3.4K
3,441 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
96.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Ankit
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ankit is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Ankit 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 Ankit at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander96.5% · 3,319
- White2.2% · 76
- Two or more races0.5% · 18
- Black or African American0.4% · 14
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 12
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.1% · 2
Popularity
Ankit: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Ankit from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 1990s, with 284 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 1990s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Ankit 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 Ankit during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Ankits live
The SSA's state-level files cover 4 states and territories. New Jersey, California, New York recorded the most babies named Ankit, while Illinois, New York, California recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 51 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Ankit
The name Ankit is of Indian origin, derived from the Sanskrit language. Its roots can be traced back to ancient times, with the earliest known references dating back to the Vedic period, around 1500-500 BCE.
The name Ankit is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word "ankit," which means "marked" or "inscribed." It is thought to have been used as a name for individuals who were born with distinctive birthmarks or other unique physical characteristics.
In Hindu mythology, there are several notable figures who bore the name Ankit. One such figure is the Rishi (sage) Ankit, who is mentioned in the Puranas as a great scholar and spiritual teacher. Another notable Ankit is found in the Mahabharata, an ancient Sanskrit epic, where he is described as a skilled warrior and archer.
Throughout history, the name Ankit has been borne by numerous individuals of significance. One of the earliest recorded examples is Ankit Ranjan, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and poet who lived in the 8th century CE during the Pala Empire in ancient Bengal.
Another notable Ankit was Ankit Mishra, a 12th-century mathematician and astronomer from the Yadava dynasty in present-day Maharashtra, India. His contributions to the field of mathematics, particularly in the areas of algebra and calculus, were significant.
In more recent times, Ankit Chadha (1944-2012) was a prominent Indian politician and member of the Indian National Congress party, serving as a member of the Lok Sabha (the lower house of the Indian parliament) for several terms.
Ankit Fadia (born 1985) is a well-known Indian ethical hacker, author, and television personality, known for his expertise in computer security and cybercrime prevention.
Ankit Sharma (born 1988) is an Indian cricketer who has represented India in various formats of the game, including Test matches, One Day Internationals, and Twenty20 Internationals.
While the name Ankit has its roots in ancient Sanskrit, it continues to be a popular name among Indian families, particularly in the northern regions of the country. Its meaning and historical significance have contributed to its enduring appeal across generations.
People
Ankit + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Ankit 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
Ankit: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Ankit?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 778 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Ankit 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 440,558 US residents.
Is Ankit a common name?
We classify Ankit as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 798 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Ankit most popular?
The single biggest year for Ankit was 1998, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Ankit is about 29 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Ankit in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,441 people with the name Ankit, or 1.14 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #5,098 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 Ankit 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 Ankit?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Ankit appears almost entirely male. Of the 3,451 people counted with this name, 99.4% 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 Ankit?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Ankit is Asian/Pacific Islander at 96.5%. The next largest groups are White (2.2%) and Two or More Races (0.5%). 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 Ankit most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Ankit in the 2020 Census, accounting for 96.5% (3,319 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 Ankit in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Ankit a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Ankit 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 Ankit still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Ankit 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 Ankit 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 called Ankit?
You can see how many people share the name Ankit on our sister site HowManyOfMe.org — same data roots, lighter UI.