Gagan
A masculine name of Sanskrit origin meaning "sky" or "heaven".
Name Census estimates that about 67 living Americans carry the first name Gagan. It is a predominantly male name (91.2% of registrations). The average person named Gagan today is around 17 years old, and the year with the single highest number of Gagan births was 2018 (10 babies).
This page is the full Name Census profile for Gagan. 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 Gagan with official rankings and popularity over time.
Key insights
- • Fewer than 100 living Americans are believed to carry the name Gagan. It is among the rarest names in the SSA records.
People living today
67
~ 1 in 5,115,736 Americans
Peak year
2018
10 babies that year
Average age
17
years old
2019 SSA rank
#11,301
Tracked since 1989
Census
Gagan in the 2020 Census
The 2020 Census recorded 839 people with the first name Gagan, which placed it at #14,135 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
#14,135
National first-name rank
People counted
839
839 in the published race/origin table
Per 100,000
0.3
People with this name in 2020
Largest reported group
Asian and Pacific Islander
95.2% of people with this name
Demographics
Ancestry and ethnicity for Gagan
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gagan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Gagan 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 Gagan at the time of the 2020 Census, not any inherent property of the name itself.
- Asian and Pacific Islander95.2% · 799
- White2.5% · 21
- Black or African American1.3% · 11
- Two or more races0.5% · 4
- Hispanic or Latino0.2% · 2
- American Indian and Alaska Native0.2% · 2
Gender
Gender distribution for Gagan
Gagan leans heavily male at 91.2% of total registrations, but 6 girls have also been registered with the name over the years, giving it a small but present crossover presence.
Gagan as a male name
- Ranked #12,776 in 2019
- 5 male births in 2019
- Peak: 2018 (10 births)
Gagan as a female name
- Ranked #11,301 in 1989
- 6 female births in 1989
- Peak: 1989 (6 births)
2020 Census snapshot
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gagan leans strongly male. 692 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 144 female bearers (17.2%).
Popularity
Gagan: popularity over time
The SSA tracks Gagan from the 1980s through to the 2010s, spanning 4 decades of birth certificate data. The biggest single decade for the name was the 2010s, with 40 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
Gagan 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 Gagan during that decade, along with a combined total. This is useful for spotting eras where the name surged or retreated.
Origin
Meaning and history of Gagan
The name Gagan has its origins in Sanskrit, one of the oldest languages in the world, dating back to the 2nd millennium BCE. It is derived from the Sanskrit word "gagana," which means "sky" or "heaven." The name is predominantly found in the Indian subcontinent and is associated with Hinduism.
The name Gagan can be traced back to ancient Hindu texts, such as the Vedas and Puranas. In these sacred scriptures, the word "gagana" is often used to represent the celestial realm and the vastness of the universe. It is believed that the name was given to children in the hope that they would embody the qualities of the sky, such as vastness, purity, and clarity.
One of the earliest recorded instances of the name Gagan can be found in the epic poem Mahabharata, where it is mentioned as the name of a warrior. In the 7th century CE, Gagan was the name of a renowned Sanskrit scholar and grammarian who wrote extensively on the rules of Sanskrit grammar.
Throughout history, the name Gagan has been borne by several notable individuals. One of the most famous was Gagan Vihari Mehta (1905-1988), an Indian independence activist and politician who served as a member of the Constituent Assembly of India. Another prominent figure was Gagan Narang (born 1983), an Indian shooter who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.
Other noteworthy individuals with the name Gagan include Gagan Ajit Singh (1892-1957), an Indian aviator and the first Indian to obtain a pilot's license in 1911; Gagan Khanna (born 1980), an Indian actress known for her work in Bollywood films; and Gagan Thapa (born 1980), a Nepalese politician and former Minister of Health.
While the name Gagan is primarily associated with the Indian subcontinent, it has also gained popularity in other parts of the world, particularly among the Indian diaspora. However, its deep-rooted connection to Sanskrit and Hindu culture remains an integral part of its meaning and significance.
People
Gagan + last name combinations
How many people share a full name with Gagan as the first name? Click a combination below to see the estimate, or search any pairing.
Related
Other names starting with G
Other first names starting with G with a similar number of bearers.
FAQ
Gagan: questions and answers
How many people in the U.S. are named Gagan?
Name Census puts the figure at roughly 67 living Americans. We arrive at this by taking every SSA birth registration for Gagan 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 5,115,736 US residents.
Is Gagan a common name?
We classify Gagan as "Very Rare". It ranks above 58.7% of all first names in the SSA dataset by living bearers. Across the full history of the data, 68 babies have been registered with this name.
When was Gagan most popular?
The single biggest year for Gagan was 2018, when 10 babies received the name. The fact that the average living Gagan is about 17 years old gives you a rough sense of which era contributed the most bearers who are still alive today.
How common was Gagan in the 2020 Census?
The published 2020 Census first-name tables recorded 839 people with the name Gagan, or 0.28 per 100,000 residents. That placed it at #14,135 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 Gagan 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 Gagan?
In the 2020 Census sex table, Gagan leans strongly male. 692 people counted with this name were male (82.8%), compared with 144 female bearers (17.2%). 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 Gagan?
In the 2020 Census race and Hispanic-origin table, the largest reported group for people named Gagan is Asian/Pacific Islander at 95.2%. The next largest groups are White (2.5%) and Black (1.3%). 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 Gagan most often in the Census?
Asian/Pacific Islander is the largest reported group for people named Gagan in the 2020 Census, accounting for 95.2% (799 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 Gagan in that year. That makes it useful for spotting when the name rose, peaked, or faded.
Is Gagan a male name?
Yes, 91.2% of people registered as Gagan 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 Gagan still being used today?
Yes. The SSA still recorded Gagan 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 Gagan 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 Gagan?
For a faster, more casual read, check HowManyOfMe.org — our sister site built around that single question.