Bindi
A feminine name of Hindu origin representing the red dot worn on the forehead.
Name Census estimates that about 392 living Americans carry the first name Bindi. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Bindi today is around 11 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Bindi births was 2021 (40 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Bindi. 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 Bindi with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
392
~ 1 in 874,373 Americans
Peak year
2021
40 babies that year
Average age
11
years old
2024 SSA rank
#4,193
Tracked since 1980
Census
Bindi in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 396 people with the first name Bindi, which placed it at #24,370 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
#24,370
National first-name rank
People counted
396
396 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.1
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
48.5% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Bindi
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bindi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.4%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Bindi 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 Bindi at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander48.5% · 192
- White38.4% · 152
- Hispanic or Latino5.8% · 23
- Two or more races4.0% · 16
- Black or African American1.8% · 7
- American Indian and Alaska Native1.5% · 6
Popularity
Bindi: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Bindi from the 1980s through to the 2020s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2020s, with 176 total registrations. The name continues to be given at rates close to its all-time high, suggesting it has not yet fallen out of fashion.
Babies born per year
Decades
Bindi 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 Bindi during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Bindis live
Origin
Meaning and history of Bindi
The name Bindi originated in the Indian subcontinent, specifically in the Sanskrit language. It is derived from the word "bindu," which means "a drop" or "a small particle." In Hindu mythology, the bindu represents the source of life and the union of the male and female principles.
The earliest recorded use of the name Bindi can be traced back to the ancient Hindu scriptures, particularly the Upanishads and the Vedas. In these texts, the bindu is often associated with the concept of the "seed" or the "point of creation" from which the entire universe emanates.
One of the most famous historical references to the name Bindi is in the Bhagavad Gita, a sacred Hindu text dated between the 5th and 2nd centuries BCE. In this text, the bindu is described as the ultimate reality, the source of all existence.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Bindi. One of the earliest recorded was Bindi Sagar, a renowned scholar and poet who lived in the 16th century during the Mughal Empire in India. His works, written in Persian and Sanskrit, explored themes of love, spirituality, and the human experience.
Another notable figure was Bindi Chand Chawla, a prominent Indian freedom fighter and social reformer who lived from 1875 to 1949. She played a crucial role in the Indian independence movement and worked tirelessly to improve the lives of women and the underprivileged.
In more recent times, the name Bindi gained global recognition through the Australian actress and singer Bindi Irwin, born in 1998. She is the daughter of the late Steve Irwin, the famous "Crocodile Hunter," and has carried on her father's legacy by advocating for wildlife conservation and environmental causes.
Bindi Karia is another notable individual who bears this name. Born in 1984, she is a British entrepreneur and businesswoman who founded the successful online clothing brand Mistress Rocks. She has been recognized for her entrepreneurial achievements and her efforts to empower women in business.
Lastly, Bindi Sahni, born in 1940, is a renowned Indian archaeologist and scholar. She has made significant contributions to the understanding of ancient Indian civilizations, particularly the Indus Valley Civilization, through her extensive research and excavations.
People
Bindi + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Bindi 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
Bindi: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Bindi?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 392 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Bindi 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 874,373 US residents.
Is Bindi a common name?
We classify Bindi as "Very Rare". It ranks above 82.1% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 396 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Bindi most popular?
The single biggest year for Bindi was 2021, when 40 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Bindi 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 Bindi in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 396 people with the name Bindi, or 0.13 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #24,370 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 Bindi 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 Bindi?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Bindi leans strongly female. 371 people counted with this name were female (95.1%), compared with 19 male bearers (4.9%). 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 Bindi?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Bindi is Asian/Pacific Islander at 48.5%. The next largest groups are White (38.4%) and Hispanic (5.8%). 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 Bindi most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Bindi in the 2020 Census, accounting for 48.5% (192 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 Bindi in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Bindi a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Bindi 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 Bindi still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Bindi 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 Bindi 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 Bindi?
HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, answers that with the living-bearer count in one glance.