Disha
An Indian feminine name meaning "direction" or "guide".
Name Census estimates that about 770 living Americans carry the first name Disha. The name is used almost exclusively for girls. The average person named Disha today is around 19 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Disha births was 2005 (49 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Disha. 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 Disha with official rankings and popularity over time.
People living today
770
~ 1 in 445,136 Americans
Peak year
2005
49 babies that year
Average age
19
years old
2024 SSA rank
#9,057
Tracked since 1975
Census
Disha in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 1,516 people with the first name Disha, which placed it at #9,256 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
#9,256
National first-name rank
People counted
1.5K
1,516 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.5
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
92.0% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Disha
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Disha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Black (3.6%) and White (3.2%). 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 Disha 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 Disha at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander92.0% · 1,395
- Black or African American3.6% · 55
- White3.2% · 48
- Two or more races0.6% · 9
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.3% · 5
- Hispanic or Latino0.3% · 4
Popularity
Disha: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Disha from the 1970s through to the 2020s, spanning 6 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2000s, with 320 total registrations. Usage has dropped considerably from its 2000s peak. The most recent decade brought in only a fraction of the registrations that the name once attracted.
Babies born per year
Decades
Disha 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 Disha during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Geography
Where Dishas live
The SSA's state-level files cover 5 states and territories. California, New Jersey, Illinois recorded the most babies named Disha, while New York, Texas, Illinois recorded the fewest. The average across all reporting states is about 30 registrations each.
Origin
Meaning and history of Disha
The name Disha has its origins in the Sanskrit language, which is an ancient Indo-Aryan language primarily used in the Indian subcontinent. The name can be traced back to ancient India, with its roots dating back several centuries.
In Sanskrit, the word "disha" means direction or cardinal point. It is believed that the name was initially given to children with the intention of guiding them toward a purposeful life and helping them find the right direction in their journey.
One of the earliest references to the name Disha can be found in the Hindu scriptures, particularly in the Vedas and Puranas. These ancient texts often used the word "disha" in a symbolic sense, representing the four cardinal directions or the spiritual path one should follow.
Throughout history, there have been several notable individuals who bore the name Disha. One of the earliest recorded examples is Disha Bharadwaj, a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian who lived in the 6th century CE. Her contributions to the study of Sanskrit grammar and linguistics were highly influential during her time.
Another prominent figure with the name Disha was Disha Chakravarti, a 12th-century Hindu philosopher and logician from the Kashmir region. She is known for her work on the philosophy of language and her contributions to the Nyaya school of Hindu philosophy.
In more recent times, Disha Patani, an Indian actress born in 1992, has gained widespread recognition for her roles in various Bollywood films. Her performances have earned her numerous accolades and a significant fan following.
Disha Vakani, an Indian film and television actress born in 1978, is best known for her portrayal of the character Daya Jethalal Gada in the popular sitcom "Taarak Mehta Ka Ooltah Chashmah." Her comedic timing and acting skills have made her a household name in India.
Disha Ravi, an Indian climate activist born in 1998, gained international attention in 2021 for her involvement in the farmers' protest movement in India. Her arrest and subsequent release sparked debates around freedom of speech and environmental activism.
While the name Disha has its roots in Sanskrit and ancient Indian culture, it has transcended geographical boundaries and gained popularity in various parts of the world, with individuals from diverse backgrounds embracing its essence and meaning.
People
Disha + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Disha as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with D
Other first names starting with D with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Disha: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Disha?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 770 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Disha 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 445,136 US residents.
Is Disha a common name?
We classify Disha as "Very Rare". It ranks above 88.3% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 783 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Disha most popular?
The single biggest year for Disha was 2005, when 49 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Disha 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 Disha in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 1,516 people with the name Disha, or 0.50 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #9,256 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 Disha 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 Disha?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Disha appears almost entirely female. Of the 1,523 people counted with this name, 99.6% 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 Disha?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Disha is Asian/Pacific Islander at 92.0%. The next largest groups are Black (3.6%) and White (3.2%). 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 Disha most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Disha in the 2020 Census, accounting for 92.0% (1,395 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 Disha in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Disha a female name?
Yes, 100.0% of people registered as Disha 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 Disha still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Disha 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 Disha 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 share the name Disha?
Want to know how many Americans are named Disha? HowManyOfMe.org, our sister site, puts the living-bearer count front and centre.