Anusha
A feminine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "praiseworthy" or "one who is praised".
Name Census estimates that about 1,146 living Americans carry the first name Anusha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Anusha today is around 20 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Anusha births was 2003 (72 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Anusha. 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 Anusha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
1.1K
~ 1 in 299,088 Americans
Peak year
2003
72 babies that year
Average age
20
years old
2024 SSA rank
#11,162
Tracked since 1988
Census
Anusha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 3,945 people with the first name Anusha, which placed it at #4,643 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
#4,643
National first-name rank
People counted
3.9K
3,945 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
1.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Anusha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anusha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Anusha 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 Anusha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.4% · 3,762
- White2.3% · 89
- Two or more races0.9% · 37
- Black or African American0.8% · 30
- Hispanic or Latino0.4% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 12
Popularity
Anusha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Anusha 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 626 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
Anusha 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 Anusha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Anushas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 13 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Texas recorded the most babies named Anusha, while Ohio, Michigan, Florida recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 33 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Anusha
The name Anusha is of Sanskrit origin and has its roots in ancient Indian culture. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "Anu," which means "atom" or "smallest particle," and "Sha," which means "to protect" or "to govern." The name can be interpreted as "one who governs or protects the smallest particles" or "the protector of atoms."
In Hindu mythology, the name Anusha is associated with the concept of creation and the fundamental building blocks of the universe. It is believed that the name was first mentioned in the Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, dating back to around 1500-500 BCE.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Anusha can be found in the ancient Indian epic, the Mahabharata. In this epic, Anusha is mentioned as the name of a princess, the daughter of King Virata. She played a significant role in the story, helping the Pandavas during their exile.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Anusha. One of the most famous was Anusha Rehman (1951-2020), a Pakistani writer and activist known for her work on women's rights and social issues. Another notable figure was Anusha Yazdani (1917-2009), an Iranian writer and scholar who made significant contributions to Persian literature.
In the field of classical Indian music, Anusha Srinivasan Iyer (born 1986) is a renowned Carnatic vocalist and has received numerous awards and recognition for her performances. Anusha Agarwal (born 1984) is an Indian chess player who achieved the title of International Master and has represented India in various international chess tournaments.
Additionally, Anusha Dandekar (born 1981) is an Indian-Australian model, actress, and television host who has gained popularity in both India and Australia for her work in the entertainment industry.
The name Anusha has been used across various cultures and regions, particularly in South Asia and the Indian subcontinent, and continues to be a popular choice for parents seeking a name with deep cultural significance and a connection to ancient traditions.
People
Anusha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Anusha 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
Anusha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Anusha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 1,146 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Anusha 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 299,088 US residents.
Is Anusha a common name?
We classify Anusha as "Rare". It ranks above 91% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 1,164 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Anusha most popular?
The single biggest year for Anusha was 2003, when 72 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Anusha is about 20 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Anusha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 3,945 people with the name Anusha, or 1.31 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #4,643 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 Anusha 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 Anusha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Anusha appears almost entirely female. Of the 3,937 people counted with this name, 99.8% were female and only a very small share were male. 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 Anusha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Anusha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.4%. The next largest groups are White (2.3%) and Two or More Races (0.9%). 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 Anusha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Anusha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.4% (3,762 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 Anusha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Anusha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Anusha 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 Anusha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Anusha 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 Anusha 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 have Anusha as a first name?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.