Auna
A feminine name of uncertain origin, possibly derived from Sanskrit.
Name Census estimates that about 537 living Americans carry the first name Auna. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Auna today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Auna births was 2014 (36 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Auna. 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.
People living today
537
~ 1 in 638,276 Americans
Peak year
2014
36 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#12,290
Tracked since 1976
Census
Auna in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 541 people with the first name Auna, which placed it at #19,504 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
#19,504
National first-name rank
People counted
541
541 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
White
68.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Auna
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Auna is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (8.5%). 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 Auna 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 Auna at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- White68.0% · 368
- Black or African American11.5% · 62
- Hispanic or Latino8.5% · 46
- Two or more races7.8% · 42
- American Indian and Alaska Native2.8% · 15
- Asian and Pacific Islander1.5% · 8
Popularity
Auna: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Auna from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 194 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2010s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Auna 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 Auna during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Aunas live
Origin
Meaning and history of Auna
The name Auna is believed to have originated from the ancient Sanskrit language, which was the classical literary language of the Indian subcontinent. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "auna," which means "prosperous" or "flourishing." The name is thought to have been in use as early as the 5th century BCE, during the Vedic period of ancient India.
One of the earliest recorded mentions of the name Auna can be found in the Rigveda, one of the oldest and most revered Hindu scriptures. In this sacred text, the name is used as a reference to the goddess Lakshmi, who is associated with wealth, fortune, and prosperity.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Auna. One of the earliest recorded figures was Auna Maharaj, a renowned Indian philosopher and spiritual leader who lived in the 9th century CE. He was known for his teachings on the principles of Advaita Vedanta, a branch of Hindu philosophy that emphasizes the non-dualistic nature of reality.
In the 12th century, Auna Devi was a prominent figure in the court of the Chola Empire, which ruled over parts of present-day southern India and Sri Lanka. She was a skilled diplomat and played a crucial role in negotiating treaties and maintaining peaceful relations with neighboring kingdoms.
During the 16th century, Auna Singh was a brave warrior and military commander who fought against the Mughal Empire in northern India. He was renowned for his strategic prowess and his unwavering loyalty to the Rajput rulers of the region.
In more recent history, Auna Kochar was a celebrated Indian classical dancer and choreographer who lived from 1917 to 2009. She was instrumental in promoting and preserving the traditional dance forms of India, and her performances were widely acclaimed both within the country and abroad.
Another notable figure was Auna Venkatesh, an Indian mathematician and computer scientist who made significant contributions to the fields of algorithms and complexity theory. Born in 1941, he was recognized for his groundbreaking work on computational complexity and received numerous awards and honors throughout his distinguished career.
While the name Auna has its roots in ancient India, it has gained popularity in various parts of the world over the centuries, reflecting the cultural exchange and migration of peoples across different regions.
People
Auna + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Auna 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
Auna: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Auna?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 537 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Auna 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 638,276 US residents.
Is Auna a common name?
We classify Auna as "Very Rare". It ranks above 85.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 547 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Auna most popular?
The single biggest year for Auna was 2014, when 36 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Auna 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 Auna in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 541 people with the name Auna, or 0.18 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #19,504 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 Auna 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 Auna?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Auna appears almost entirely female. Of the 543 people counted with this name, 100.0% 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 Auna?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Auna is White at 68.0%. The next largest groups are Black (11.5%) and Hispanic (8.5%). 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 Auna most often in the Census?
White is the largest reported group for people named Auna in the 2020 Census, accounting for 68.0% (368 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 Auna in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Auna a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Auna 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 Auna still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Auna 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 Auna 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 Americans are named Auna?
See how many Americans are named Auna on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.