Balaji
A Hindu masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "young child" or "sublime lord".
Name Census estimates that about 5 living Americans carry the first name Balaji. The name is used almost exclusively for boys. The average person named Balaji today is around 26 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Balaji births was 2000 (5 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Balaji. 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 Balaji with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Balaji. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
5
~ 1 in 68,550,868 Americans
Peak year
2000
5 babies that year
Average age
26
years old
2000 SSA rank
#10,525
Tracked since 2000
Census
Balaji in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,844 people with the first name Balaji, which placed it at #7,992 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
#7,992
National first-name rank
People counted
1.8K
1,844 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.6
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
97.7% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Balaji
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Balaji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Balaji 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 Balaji at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander97.7% · 1,802
- White1.2% · 23
- Two or more races0.6% · 11
- Black or African American0.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 3
Popularity
Balaji: popularity over time
Babies born per year
Decades
Balaji 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 Balaji during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
| Decade | Male | Female | Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 5 | 0 | 5 |
Origin
Meaning and history of Balaji
The name Balaji is a Hindu name with origins in the Sanskrit language. It is a combination of the words "Bala" meaning "child" and "Aji" meaning "the unborn" or "eternal." The name is closely associated with the Hindu deity Lord Venkateshwara, a form of Lord Vishnu.
In Hindu mythology, Lord Venkateshwara is revered as the presiding deity of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple located in Tirupati, Andhra Pradesh, India. This temple is one of the most sacred and visited pilgrimage sites in the Hindu tradition. The name Balaji is often used as a reference to Lord Venkateshwara himself.
The earliest recorded use of the name Balaji can be traced back to the 16th century, during the reign of the Vijayanagara Empire in South India. It is believed that the name gained popularity after the construction of the Tirumala Venkateswara Temple complex, which became a significant center of Hindu worship.
One of the earliest notable figures with the name Balaji was Balaji Vishwanath (1713-1720), a prominent Peshwa (prime minister) of the Maratha Empire in India. He played a crucial role in establishing the Maratha rule in the Deccan region and is considered a key figure in the history of the Maratha Empire.
Another historical figure with the name Balaji was Balaji Baji Rao (1720-1761), also known as Nana Saheb. He was a influential Peshwa of the Maratha Empire and is remembered for his diplomatic skills and military strategies. He played a significant role in expanding the Maratha influence across India.
Balaji Bajirao (1775-1851) was a prominent Marathi scholar and author from the 19th century. He is known for his literary works, including translations of Hindu scriptures and poetic compositions. His contributions to Marathi literature are widely recognized.
Balaji Vishwanath Shivram (1786-1856), also known as Peshwa Baji Rao II, was the last Peshwa of the Maratha Empire. He was forced to surrender to the British East India Company in 1818, marking the end of the Maratha rule in India.
Balaji Tambe (1891-1973) was a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer. He actively participated in the Indian independence movement and worked towards the upliftment of underprivileged communities in Maharashtra, India.
These are just a few examples of notable figures throughout history who bore the name Balaji, reflecting its deep-rooted connections to Hindu culture, mythology, and historical events in India.
People
Balaji + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Balaji as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with B
Other first names starting with B with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Balaji: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Balaji?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 5 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Balaji 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 68,550,868 US residents.
Is Balaji a common name?
We classify Balaji as "Very Rare". It ranks above 18.2% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 5 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Balaji most popular?
The single biggest year for Balaji was 2000, when 5 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Balaji is about 26 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Balaji in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,844 people with the name Balaji, or 0.61 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #7,992 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 Balaji 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 Balaji?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Balaji appears almost entirely male. Of the 1,845 people counted with this name, 99.7% 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 Balaji?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Balaji is Asian/Pacific Islander at 97.7%. The next largest groups are White (1.2%) and Two or More Races (0.6%). 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 Balaji most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Balaji in the 2020 Census, accounting for 97.7% (1,802 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 Balaji in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Balaji a male name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Balaji 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 Balaji still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Balaji 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 Balaji 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 common is the name Balaji?
See how many people share the name Balaji on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.