Bani
A Hindu feminine name denoting beauty, grace, and speech.
Name Census estimates that about 268 living Americans carry the first name Bani. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bani today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bani births was 2024 (22 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bani. 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 Bani with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
268
~ 1 in 1,278,934 Americans
Peak year
2024
22 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#5,627
Tracked since 1991
Census
Bani in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 510 people with the first name Bani, which placed it at #20,297 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
#20,297
National first-name rank
People counted
510
510 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.2
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
52.4% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bani
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 52.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (34.1%) and White (6.1%). 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 Bani 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 Bani at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander52.4% · 267
- Hispanic or Latino34.1% · 174
- White6.1% · 31
- Black or African American4.1% · 21
- Two or more races2.9% · 15
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.4% · 2
Popularity
Bani: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bani from the 1990s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 130 total registrations. Although the numbers have come down from the 2010s peak, Bani remains solidly in use and shows no sign of disappearing from maternity wards.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bani 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 Bani during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Banis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bani
The name Bani has its origins in the Sanskrit language and is derived from the word "vani," which means "speech" or "voice." It is believed to have been used in ancient India as early as the 5th century BCE.
In Hindu mythology, Vani is considered the goddess of speech, language, and learning. She is often depicted as a beautiful woman holding a book or a pen, symbolizing her role as the patron of scholars and writers.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bani can be found in the Rig Veda, one of the oldest and most revered Hindu scriptures. It is mentioned in several hymns and verses, often referring to the divine speech or the poetic expression.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bani. One of the most famous was Bani Das, a 16th-century Indian poet and saint from the Bhakti movement. He composed numerous devotional songs and poems dedicated to Lord Krishna.
Another prominent figure was Bani Thani, a 17th-century Indian philosopher and writer who authored several works on Vedanta and Advaita Vedanta philosophy. His writings had a significant influence on the intellectual discourse of his time.
In the 18th century, Bani Singh was a renowned Rajput warrior and ruler of the princely state of Jaisalmer in present-day Rajasthan, India. He is remembered for his bravery and military exploits in defending his kingdom against invaders.
In more recent times, Bani Aidid was a Somali military leader and revolutionary who played a significant role in the Somali Civil War in the 1990s. He led a faction of the Somali National Alliance and was involved in several conflicts with United Nations peacekeeping forces.
Bani Walid was a prominent figure in the 7th century Arab world. He was a companion of the Prophet Muhammad and played a crucial role in the early spread of Islam in the Arabian Peninsula.
People
Bani + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bani 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
Bani: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bani?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 268 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bani 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 1,278,934 US residents.
Is Bani a common name?
We classify Bani as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.9% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 270 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bani most popular?
The single biggest year for Bani was 2024, when 22 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bani is about 11 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bani in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 510 people with the name Bani, or 0.17 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #20,297 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 Bani 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 Bani?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bani on both sides of the split. Of the 511 people counted with this name, 144 were male (28.2%) and 367 were female (71.8%). 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 Bani?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bani is Asian/Pacific Islander at 52.4%. The next largest groups are Hispanic (34.1%) and White (6.1%). 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 Bani most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bani in the 2020 Census, accounting for 52.4% (267 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 Bani in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bani a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bani 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 Bani still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bani 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 Bani 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 Bani?
For a quick modern estimate, our sister site HowManyOfMe.org answers that in one glance, with the living-bearer count front and centre.