Bawi
A masculine Burmese name meaning "baby elephant".
Name Census estimates that about 256 living Americans carry the first name Bawi. It appears on both sides of the gender split, with 84.1% of registrations being male. The average person named Bawi today is around 10 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bawi births was 2015 (41 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bawi. 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
256
~ 1 in 1,338,884 Americans
Peak year
2015
41 babies that year
Average age
10
years old
2024 SSA rank
#8,365
Tracked since 2009
Census
Bawi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,435 people with the first name Bawi, which placed it at #9,609 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
#9,609
National first-name rank
People counted
1.4K
1,435 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
99.3% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bawi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bawi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.3%) and Hispanic (0.2%). 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 Bawi 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 Bawi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander99.3% · 1,425
- Two or more races0.3% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 3
- White0.1% · 2
- Black or African American0.1% · 1
Gender
Gender distribution for Bawi
Bawi leans heavily male at 84.1% of total registrations, but 41 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Bawi as a male name
- Ranked #8,365 in 2024
- 9 male births in 2024
- Peak: 2015 (32 births)
Bawi as a female name
- Ranked #12,645 in 2019
- 7 female births in 2019
- Peak: 2015 (9 births)
2020 Census snapshot
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bawi on both sides of the split. Of the 1,435 people counted with this name, 1,029 were male (71.7%) and 406 were female (28.3%).
Popularity
Bawi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bawi from the 2000s through to the 2020s, spanning 3 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 208 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
Bawi 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 Bawi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bawis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bawi
The name Bawi is believed to have originated from the Karbi language, spoken by the Karbi people of Assam, India. It is derived from the word "bawir," which means "brave" or "courageous." The Karbi are an ethnic group native to the hill regions of Assam, and their language belongs to the Tibeto-Burman family.
In the ancient Karbi culture, the name Bawi was often bestowed upon newborn boys as a symbol of strength and valor. It was a way for parents to express their hope that their child would grow to embody the qualities of bravery and resilience.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Bawi can be found in the Karbi folktales and oral traditions, which have been passed down through generations. These stories often featured brave Karbi warriors and heroes with the name Bawi, showcasing their exploits and acts of courage.
Throughout history, several notable individuals have borne the name Bawi. One such figure is Bawi Khunjuri (1899-1983), a prominent Karbi leader and social reformer who played a significant role in the upliftment of the Karbi community. He advocated for the preservation of Karbi language, culture, and traditions.
Another famous Bawi was Bawi Lyngdoh (1937-2015), a notable writer and scholar from Meghalaya, India. He contributed immensely to the literary landscape of the Khasi language and was awarded the prestigious Padma Shri, one of India's highest civilian honors, in 2013.
In the realm of sports, Bawi Bhutia (born 1976) is a renowned former Indian footballer who captained the national team. He is considered one of the greatest players in the history of Indian football and has received several accolades, including the Arjuna Award and the Padma Shri.
Bawi Kalita (1924-2012) was a prominent Assamese writer and journalist whose works explored themes of social justice and human rights. He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award, India's highest literary honor, in 1976 for his novel "Dhairi."
Another notable figure was Bawi Reang (1897-1967), a Reang tribal leader and social activist who fought for the rights and welfare of the Reang community in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of present-day Bangladesh.
While the name Bawi has its roots in the Karbi culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and continues to be used across various regions, particularly in Northeast India, as a symbol of strength and fortitude.
People
Bawi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bawi 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
Bawi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bawi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 256 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bawi 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 1,338,884 US residents.
Is Bawi a common name?
We classify Bawi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 77.4% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 258 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bawi most popular?
The single biggest year for Bawi was 2015, when 41 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bawi is about 10 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Bawi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,435 people with the name Bawi, or 0.48 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,609 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 Bawi 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 Bawi?
The 2020 Census sex table shows Bawi on both sides of the split. Of the 1,435 people counted with this name, 1,029 were male (71.7%) and 406 were female (28.3%). 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 Bawi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bawi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 99.3%. The next largest groups are Two or More Races (0.3%) and Hispanic (0.2%). 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 Bawi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bawi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 99.3% (1,425 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 Bawi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bawi a male name?
Yes, 84.1% of people registered as Bawi 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 Bawi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bawi 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 Bawi 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 Bawi?
See how many people share the name Bawi on HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site built around that single question.